But those were just the first visible cracks in a growing public health crisis that has shattered this island’s distinction as the state’s lone coronavirus-free sanctuary.
In six days the infection count shot up from four to at least 79, stoking fears that this tiny isle of fewer than 3,000 close-knit residents could be on the verge of a coronavirus free fall. Health workers say they expect the positive case count to continue to climb as hundreds of results trickle in from a massive weekend testing drive.
The virus has infected numerous kupuna, including some with preexisting health conditions, which, along with their age, make them more vulnerable to the deadly disease. At least 15 students at Lanai High and Elementary School are also infected. Some of these students brought the virus home, spreading the contagion to family members.
As health workers rush to uncover how deeply the virus has pervaded the Lanai population, many residents say what they fear as much as the virus is the unknown. How many people have been infected? Is it even safe to hunker down with other family members at home?
“We don’t have a plan for how we’re going to handle this,” lamented Butch Gima, a state social worker. “We’re in dire straits here and we’re still in reaction mode.”
On Monday Gov. David Ige approved a request from Maui Mayor Mike Victorino to send the island into a strict shutdown. Starting Tuesday Lanai residents and visitors will only be permitted to leave their homes or hotel rooms for essential purposes, such as grocery shopping or to see a doctor.
Over the weekend many residents started sheltering at home preemptively. Those with second homes on the mainland boarded airplanes and fled.
“We have a friend who flew in Wednesday thinking that he’s coming to the one place in the United States that doesn’t have COVID,” said Manele resident David Green. “Of course, he had very bad timing.”
Coronavirus Free Fall
The fact that the island was COVID-free for the first seven months of the pandemic led some residents to gradually relax their vigilance. People loosened their adherence to mask-wearing and physical distancing guidelines. Some residents resumed having baby showers, birthday parties and children’s sleepovers, according to a dozen residents and health care workers interviewed for this story. A Civil Beat reporter traveled to Lanai last week to document the public health crisis that was just beginning.
“It’s like putting a dog in a cage,” he said. “What do you think that dog’s going to do when you open the cage back up? It’s the same thing with people here.”
But it was more than island fever. Many Lanai residents depend on regular trips to Maui to access cheaper prices on food and supplies at Costco and other big box stores.
When travel restrictions eased in mid-October to allow Maui County residents to bypass the mandatory 14-day quarantine when traveling between Maui, Mokokai and Lanai, some Lanai residents resumed regular trips to Maui to shop or see family and friends.
The return of tourism to the island on Oct. 15 signaled another psychological shift toward normalcy. Hundreds of hotel workers returned to their jobs for the first time in months.
So when the virus finally seeped onto the island, it met a population that had largely let down its guard — and it exploded.
Worst Case Scenario
If cases continue to mount, a frightening set of challenges could be in store for the sickest patients.
The island’s only hospital is a three-bed emergency department with no critical care beds or specialists. The hospital has a ventilator, but no respiratory therapist trained to operate it. Patients who develop COVID-19 symptoms severe enough to need hospital care must be flown off the island.
On Friday, Medeiros said he tried unsuccessfully to gain clearance to fly several coronavirus-infected kupuna with less acute symptoms to Maui or Oahu, where there is readily available hospital capacity to treat them should their conditions deteriorate.
“I was told they don’t do just-in-case scenarios,” Medeiros said. “So you want us to just wait until they need to be on a ventilator to ship them out?”
There are risks involved in transporting critically ill patients. But this has always been the case when someone on Lanai suffers a heart attack or loses blood in a car wreck.
The unique quandary posed by Lanai’s COVID-19 outbreak is a numbers problem. What happens if several Lanai residents who’ve contracted the virus fall ill and need critical care all at once?
If cases continue to mount, a frightening set of challenges could be in store for the sickest patients.
The island’s only hospital is a three-bed emergency department with no critical care beds or specialists. The hospital has a ventilator, but no respiratory therapist trained to operate it. Patients who develop COVID-19 symptoms severe enough to need hospital care must be flown off the island.
On Friday, Medeiros said he tried unsuccessfully to gain clearance to fly several coronavirus-infected kupuna with less acute symptoms to Maui or Oahu, where there is readily available hospital capacity to treat them should their conditions deteriorate.
“I was told they don’t do just-in-case scenarios,” Medeiros said. “So you want us to just wait until they need to be on a ventilator to ship them out?”
There are risks involved in transporting critically ill patients. But this has always been the case when someone on Lanai suffers a heart attack or loses blood in a car wreck.
The unique quandary posed by Lanai’s COVID-19 outbreak is a numbers problem. What happens if several Lanai residents who’ve contracted the virus fall ill and need critical care all at once?
by Brittany Lyte, Honolulu Civil Beat | Read more:
Images: markk
[ed. My beloved island. Larry Ellision (of Oracle fame) owns 98% of the island, why can't he use a small portion of his $75 billion net worth to help out, at least with off-island transportation?]
