Winter Surge in COVID-19: Hawaii Needs to Stay on Guard
A popular year-round destination, Hawaii has visitors aplenty even in the winter. And, given that the State of Hawaii has rolled out the Safe Travels Hawaii Program earlier in October, the number of visitors will steadily rise. If you are planning a trip to the tropical island state, well, don’t forget to pack this year’s most-trending winter accessory: masks. Remember, the Hawaii government has issued the 15th COVID-19 emergency proclamation that reiterates that a statewide mandate for face covering is still in effect. This announcement is very timely, as experts anticipate a massive surge in COVID-19 cases in the winter months. The predicted impacts could be considerably large as we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas time when people are bound to spend more time indoors, in closed settings.
Based on ongoing predictive analyses, this winter, Hawaii will likely witness a two-fold surge in the number of COVID-19 cases reported in the summer of 2020. Getting to the specifics, analysts at The Queen’s Health Systems
have
projected
that
monthly
hospital
admissions might rise to as many as 450 in the new year, should current case trends continue—and these projections are limited to Hawaii residents alone. For the record, the monthly average of hospital admissions currently stands at 200.
As of November 18, 2020, the 7-day average of new COVID-19 infections in Hawaii is hovering around 88.3, as reported by the Hawaii Data Collaborative. This rising average has led to an increase in the number of hospital admissions, causing an additional burden to the health care workers: our real heroes; they have been working tirelessly for months as they cater to the growing demand for care. Moreover, considering the winter months coincide with the flu season, a surge could overwhelm the health care system, as patients with the flu and those COVID-19 would then compete for the same (limited) resources.
In an effort to combat the anticipated surge in COVID-19 cases in winter, local hospitals and health care administrators have begun recruiting additional staff to supplement their existing health care workforce from January through March. These plans are in addition to the ongoing efforts to increase hospital accommodations and roll out additional COVID-19 tests. In Waikiki, for instance, urgent care clinics like Urgent Care Hawaii are taking all possible measures to prepare for the anticipated surge, including equipping their staff to provide high-quality telemedicine services in Hawaii.
Although a winter surge in COVID-19 cases may seem inevitable at this point, its potential effects could be subdued depending on how we—as a society—respond. Widespread awareness and understanding of the looming challenge is the need of the hour and the public's collective participation to conform to the preventive guidelines: social distancing, ramping up contact tracing, and avoiding confined spaces. The state’s emergency order to mandate masks and face coverings seems to be one step forward in that direction. If you think you may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 or are experiencing symptoms yourself, take the COVID-19 test: Urgent Care Hawaii offers a range of COVID-19 tests in Waikiki, Pearl City, Kapolei, and Kailua centers, in addition to providing high-quality virtual care via its telemedicine clinics in Honululu.
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