Governor David Ige, State Health Director Bruce Anderson, and State Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park spoke Tuesday afternoon after the day’s new case count was the highest the state has experienced, at 41.  One new case is on the Big Island, two are on Kaua’i, and 38 are on O’ahu.  The Big Island as of today has 8 active cases.

Director Anderson, in response to a question by Max Dible of Big Island Now, confirmed that there are new cases which resulted from people who came to the island, to both Hilo and Kona, on a “business trip,” for training, but gave no other information.

The main message from the Governor and Health Department was that this increase in cases is expected, that the State has the capability within existing healthcare resources to handle any hospitalizations, and that preventing the spread of COVID-19 is a personal responsibility.  They emphasized that the only way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is for people to wear masks and stay physically distant from others outside their personal family group.  Gov. Ige also urged businesses to have employees work from home if at all possible.  Dr. Anderson and Dr. Park said they are aggressively contact tracing, but that testing and tracing is only one part of the solution–that mask wearing and distancing is critical.

Anderson also said he’s concerned about what he fears will be a new surge in cases as a result of the July 4th weekend festivities.  He also he is disturbed that many of the new cases are not associated with known clusters, meaning COVID-19 is spreading in the community.

Dr. Park said the state is also seeing a resurgence of influenza and cold viruses, meaning people are not practicing the measures which not only kept COVID-19 at bay initially, but also lowered the count of flu and colds.  She said COVID-19 is far more contagious and spreads far more easily than do colds and influenza.

Gov. Ige said he and the Mayors and the Health Department personnel are discussing whether any modification should be made in the State’s plan to reopen travel from out of state on August 1 with no 14-day quarantine if people get tested in advance.  Anderson said the plans for the August 1 opening are still being worked out.  The Governor said the state will rely on hotels and tour operators to educate visitors not just about the Hawaiian culture and natural environment, but also about their responsibilities towards public health.