Latest news with #KirkCaldwell
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Pandemic in Hawaii's rearview mirror, but COVID ‘still with us'
JAMM AQUINO / 2020 Dozens of city workers line up to be tested for COVID-19 at Honolulu Hale. Then-Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced a cluster of cases and mass testing, along with the prompt closure at Honolulu Hale, as health officials reported 140 new corona virus cases—most of them on Oahu. 1 /2 JAMM AQUINO / 2020 Dozens of city workers line up to be tested for COVID-19 at Honolulu Hale. Then-Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced a cluster of cases and mass testing, along with the prompt closure at Honolulu Hale, as health officials reported 140 new corona virus cases—most of them on Oahu. JAMM AQUINO / 2020 Medical workers with Premiere Medical Group administer COVID-19 testing to city employees at Honolulu Hale. 2 /2 JAMM AQUINO / 2020 Medical workers with Premiere Medical Group administer COVID-19 testing to city employees at Honolulu Hale. JAMM AQUINO / 2020 Dozens of city workers line up to be tested for COVID-19 at Honolulu Hale. Then-Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced a cluster of cases and mass testing, along with the prompt closure at Honolulu Hale, as health officials reported 140 new corona virus cases—most of them on Oahu. JAMM AQUINO / 2020 Medical workers with Premiere Medical Group administer COVID-19 testing to city employees at Honolulu Hale. More than five years since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, throwing Hawaii and the world into chaos, memories of the traumatic events for many have become a blur in the rearview mirror. There were sick COVID-19 patients, isolated in a hospital room, who could only communicate with loved ones via an iPad. There were emergency stay-at-home orders and extended lockdowns, resulting in empty streets and shuttered businesses. There was fear and uncertainty of a new disease and how long it would all go on—with initial expectations of just a few weeks to a few months or so. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020, and declared an end to the pandemic emergency on May 5, 2023. The U.S. ended the emergency earlier, in April 2023. Tim Brown, an infectious disease expert following developments closely, recalls being asked how long the pandemic would last and saying it could be up to five years. Now, five years out, he said 'it's still with us ' and is here to stay. But Hawaii is in a very different place now from five years ago, with many of the greatest concerns about COVID-19 having subsided. Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. The state Department of Health has recorded consistently low average case counts since Thanksgiving, with no significant spikes since the omicron wave in the summer of 2022. The average positivity rate—or number of tests that are positive—on March 20 was at 2.2 % statewide. The most recent number of COVID-19 patients in Hawaii hospitals has been consistently low, at an average of just six per day, and just one in the ICU. So far this year there have been fewer than 10 COVID-19-related deaths. 'I think the reality is now, virtually everyone in the world has either been exposed to COVID—in many cases multiple times—or been vaccinated multiple times, ' said Brown, an adjunct senior fellow with the East-West Center in Manoa. 'So now our immune systems are primed to deal with COVID. Most people are not going to get severely ill or die from COVID infections today.' Though the virus continues to evolve, no significant, new variants have driven another spike. Even if there was another evolutionary jump, Brown said he would not expect another large death wave due to long-term T-cell immunity most people now have against COVID-19. Virus not harmless Still, Brown said he thinks it is important to stress that COVID-19 is not harmless. 'A lot of people—the elderly, the immunocompromised, those with heart disease, high blood pressure and obesity—they're still at severe risk from COVID, ' he said. 'I would still strongly recommend that people get vaccinated, especially if you're in one of the higher risk categories.' Nationally, more than 1.2 million Americans have died from COVID-19, according to CDC. And there are still people, an estimated 3.5 %, who develop, which endures for months to years after an infection, said Brown. Some have recovered but others never have, resulting in permanent disability. 'It's not just a respiratory virus, ' said Brown. 'It's a systemic infection. It affects not just the neurological system, but the gastrointestinal and cardiovascular system. It affects your blood vessels.' Studies have shown the risks of heart attack and stroke, for instance, are elevated for three years after a COVID-19 infection. But COVID-19 is in the rearview mirror for most Americans. According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, most Americans have moved on, with only 1 in 5 considering COVID-19 a major threat to the health of the U.S. population. Most, 56 %, think it's no longer something we need to worry about. Just 4 % regularly wear a mask, and fewer than half of U.S. adults planned to get an updated COVID-19 vaccine last fall. Today only 12.6 % of Hawaii's population has gotten the 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccines, in stark contrast to the days when people lined up at large-scale events to get the initial rollout of the vaccines. Front-line workers Memories are still vivid for those worked on the front lines of the pandemic. Daniel Ross, a nurse at The Queen's Medical Center, remembers the fear of working with this unknown virus and the inadequate personal protective equipment that staff was initially provided. Nurses were putting their masks in a paper bag for a few days, then reusing them. And yet, nurses and health care workers showed up to work, he said. Ross, who was president of the Hawaii Nurses' Association during the peak COVID-19 time, also recalls having to advocate for ICU nurses dealing with three patients at a time, which the union considered unsafe. He also counseled many nurses who went through the trauma of caring for COVID-19 patients at their worst and away from their loved ones. Many got burned out and left the profession, or sought positions away from bedside nursing. Yet others, including a colleague who suffered a COVID-19 stroke, tried to return to work but were unable. Today there are fewer COVID-19 patients overall, he said, having cared for just one the prior week. Their illnesses are not as severe as previous years, and many were admitted with other ailments and then tested positive for COVID-19. But hospitals are still overflowing, Ross said, with patients sick from other ailments. Those in emergency rooms sometimes are waiting for up to 48 hours for hospital beds to open. These patients are sometimes placed in hallways, with no additional nurses added for the extra load. The high volume of patients to staff continues to drive HNA to advocate for safer working ratios today at every contract negotiation. HNA President Rosalee Agas-Yuu said the pandemic took a toll on nurses who worked overtime on those front lines. She said that they went to work with the fear and risk of bringing the virus home to their own families, with many keeping a change of clothes in the car. Agas-Yuu said nurses were stretched thin during the pandemic emergency and that normalcy still has not returned. She said nurses continue to struggle with staffing shortages and patient overload. During HNA's various strikes over the year, one of the signs that striking nurses held said, 'First we were heroes, now we are zeroes.' Collective amnesia Were lessons learned during the pandemic ? Unfortunately, said Brown, there seems to be a collective amnesia that only resulted in more division among Americans than in lessons learned. 'When people face traumatic events, they develop an amnesia around it, and they kind of push it out of their minds, ' said Brown. 'People have forgotten what that period was like. They forgot that our health care system nearly collapsed. They forgot that doctors and nurses felt like they were on a battlefield and were exhausted with dealing with a level of death they've never dealt with before.' Brown said it's important to remember Hawaii hospitals were over capacity during first the delta and then the omicron surges. Hawaii fared better than most of the U.S., which recorded more than 1.2 million American deaths due to COVID-19. In Hawaii the death toll as of Wednesday stood at 2, 276—2, 217 Hawaii residents and 59 visitors. According to the Pew survey, most Americans say the pandemic drove the country apart, which continues to play out in politics today. CDC and WHO were blindsided, according to Brown, and gave inconsistent advice on the virus. Would masking help ? The answer should have been yes, he said, and Asian countries were already masking, but the U.S. hesitated to advise it due to a mask shortage. Was it airborne ? Yes. Could it spread from people without symptoms ? Brown said experts at the time responded that it was rare, but the answer was yes. Today there is a distrust of government agencies such as CDC, and a growing backlash against science as well as vaccines that seem to have spilled over to other vaccines, including longtime childhood vaccines. The U.S. experienced record-high levels of flu cases and hospitalizations this year amidst declining vaccination rates. Measles is also having a comeback, with a recent outbreak in Texas resulting in the death of a child—the first in a decade. All eyes are on the highly pathogenic avian influenza, more commonly known as bird flu, as the virus continues to evolve and infect a growing number of dairy herds. Brown fears that in the next potential pandemic, the U.S. will be much less equipped to respond quickly. As for COVID-19, it's here to stay, and needs our attention because people still could get long COVID, get ill and suffer health effects such as increased risk of heart attacks, and some still die. 'It's not going anywhere, ' he said, 'and we ignore it at our peril.' COVID trends — 2.2 % Average positivity (number of tests that were positive ) 6 per day COVID-19 patients hospitalized (7-day average ) 2, 276 Total COVID-19-related deaths (2, 217 residents, 59 visitors ) 12.6 % Vaccination rate (2024-25 COVID-19 vaccine ) 65 + Residents age group with highest impacts Source : State Department of Health — Statistics are as of March 20
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Yahoo
City parks ‘follow-up' audit completed
The Office of the City Auditor recently completed a periodic performance audit regarding the funding and maintenance priorities of the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation. Filed in February, the audit found improvements had been made within DPR—which has a current operating budget of nearly $120.6 million—but noted data related to spending on individual city park sites on Oahu was lacking. This performance report was deemed a five-year follow-up to DPR's original audit, issued in June 2020, during then-Mayor Kirk Caldwell's administration. First requested by the City Council in 2019, that review determined DPR 'lacked sufficient policies, procedures, and consistent staffing to ensure that parks are maintained properly and equitably.' 'As a result, the department did not have critical quantitative performance measures to effectively manage city parks, struggled to ensure that maintenance efforts were performed consistently and equitably, and supported a maintenance program that was reactive, rather than proactive, ' the 2020 audit states. It noted nearly 14 % of ground maintenance staff positions were unfilled in fiscal years 2018 and 2019, 'which adversely impacted the department's ability to sufficiently maintain city parks.' Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. The 2020 audit also found 'insufficient park maintenance cost data hampered park management and transparency.' 'More importantly, the department was unable to effectively manage park maintenance because it did not have critical information needed to analyze resources allocated at the park level, ' the audit states. Other more visible problems—like vandalism—were apparent at city-owned parks, too. From the 2017 to 2019 fiscal years, 'the city spent nearly $770, 478 for security guard services at parks and a total of $624, 039 to repair vandalism. In that same time period, repeated vandalism costs totaled $59, 265, ' the audit states. Vandalism, the audit asserted, was 'inaccurately reported and costs may have (been ) understated.' The 2020 audit also claimed DPR 'did not sufficiently track financial data ' of its capital improvement program, or CIP, projects. Based on this lack of coordination and transparency, there was insufficient accountability for projects that were not completed even though the City Council approved funding, the audit states. The city auditor found that from fiscal years 2015 to 2017, an average of 31 %—$13.9 million—of executive branch CIP projects did not have any record of expenditure in CIP financial reports. Likewise, an average of 56 %—$49.8 million—of Council-added CIP projects did not have any rec ords either, the auditor determined. Ultimately, the 2020 audit offered nine recommendations to DPR :—Establish policies and procedures to track daily park maintenance efforts.—Establish quantitative, preventive standards for park facilities.—Bring ground maintenance staff fill rates to 90 %.—Establish a methodology to identify resource allocation at the park level.—Collect expenditure and resource allocation data at the park level and use that information to improve park management.—Conduct further analysis before expanding park security.—Find alternatives to decreasing vandalism in parks.—Document coordination with the city Department of Design and Construction for CIP projects.—Issue an annual report on the status of all approved CIP park projects. Earlier this month the city auditor completed its new follow-up audit. 'We found that six recommendations are completed, two are in-process, and one recommendation is not started, ' Troy Shimasaki, acting city auditor, wrote in a Feb. 10 letter to Council Chair Tommy Waters. Recommendations that remain 'in-process ' include staffing and status updates on CIP park projects. 'In 2020, the department indicated that staffing levels for DPR ground maintenance was at an 85 percent fill rate, ' the new audit states. 'Mass interviews was a successful program for the department in filling groundskeeper positions on a timely basis. DPR reaffirmed its commitment to achieving the goal of a 90 percent fill rate.' DPR reported in January 2024 that about 80 % of ground maintenance staff positions had been filled. And mass hiring events successfully filled 25 critical positions from the 27 candidates who had been issued conditional offer letters, the audit states. The audit also found that in fiscal year 2024 DPR started to track four of its 92 CIP park projects on a quarterly basis. 'While the quarterly tracking of a few CIP projects is a step in the right direction, it falls short of the comprehensive annual reporting of all park CIP projects intended by the recommendation, ' the audit states. 'We consider this recommendation in-process.' DPR, the audit noted, should continue to issue reports on approved CIP park projects and add more parks to the reports. With regard to more vexing issues at city-owned parks—such as vandalism—the audit found DPR instituted a so-called park ranger assessment project in late 2022. Funded via federal COVID-19 money, the park ranger program—consisting of five staff—aims to promote voluntary compliance with park rules and regulations, measure the effectiveness of education, and civil enforcement as a deterrent. The new audit said park rangers 'have begun collecting data through site observations conducted at the various city parks.' 'Although the focus has been on commercial activities, the project intends to expand into other areas such as education and security enforcement, ' the audit states. 'We determined that this recommendation is completed.' As far as park vandalism, the audit found that DPR 'explored alternatives via the Adopt-a-Park program and the launch of a new, comprehensive volunteering platform, E Alu Pu Kakou !' 'Recognizing the (Adopt-a-Park ) program's outdated structure, DPR requested $408, 823 from (federal COVID-19 funds ) in March 2022, allocating a portion of these funds to modernize program materials, policies, and communication strategies, ' the audit states. Since the reactivation of Adopt-a-Park, volunteer numbers have steadily increased. 'With these measures in place, we consider this recommendation completed, ' the new audit states. Out of the nine recommendations, the latest audit asserts DPR failed to start one. 'We found that while DPR continues to collect expenditure and resource allocation at the park district level, it does not collect or report that data at the individual park level, ' the review states. In a Feb. 6 written response to the draft audit, DPR Director Designate Laura Thielen generally thanked the city auditor for recognizing the agency's steps toward progress since 2020. Thielen disagreed, however, with the one recommendation marked 'not started.' 'DPR found it is possible to collect park-by-park expenditure data for capital improvement projects, as those expenditures are isolated to work at a single park, ' she said. 'However, due to the need to operate efficiently, it is not really possible to collect operating expenditures on a park-by-park basis. The wide-scale operations require staff and specialized equipment that service multiple parks.' Thielen said DPR 'respectfully encourages future inquiries to separate operating expenditures and look at different ways to determine if there is equitable allocation of resources across the island.' 'We will continue to examine different means of measuring equity across communities on our island, although we do not anticipate getting to the park-by-park level, ' she added. BY THE NUMBERS From the 2017 to 2019 fiscal years, the city spent approximately the following : $770, 478 Security guard services $624, 039 Vandalism repair $59, 265 Repeated vandalism costs
