 To talk story with John Wahee, as we continue our discussion of the times that we live in, which is obviously all of us trying to get past this coronavirus situation, and so today we have a chance to continue that. Where are we at this part, at this time of the pandemic? And we are very fortunate this afternoon to have the mayor of the city and county with us to talk to us a little bit about what's happening here in Hawaii and elsewhere regarding the response to the coronavirus. And as we know, his hands have been full for the past month or so dealing with these issues on a daily basis. So I'd like to welcome at this time the mayor of the city and county of Honolulu, Kurt Codwell. Kurt, thank you so much for agreeing to be with us. And by the way, great Palakka mask. Thank you, Governor. I'm taking it off now. I'm practicing good social distancing. I'm here with just one other person in the room, but I want to say mahalo for all you do on Think Tech and doing this broadcast. I thought you were using that, you were using that Palakka mask just to make me jealous. Well, that's part of you know what I'm saying, by the way, shaka for the Palakka, right? When I see it, we shaka, yeah. That's right. Well, the best Palakka shirts anyone I know. Well, Mr. Mayor, you know, how goes it? I mean, what's your, well, you know, I think a lot of people out there hear you making announcements and doing what is necessary to protect all of us. And we appreciate it, by the way. And I want to start off by saying that we appreciate what you're doing. We appreciate all the work that the people that are with you on the front lines are doing to make us all safe, you know. And so I thought I just, what's happening? Where are we at the moment? Well, when I want to shout out to everyone on the island of Oahu and particularly and even the state of Hawaii for all that they've done, you know, the governor and the mayors have issued orders, you know, we shut down restaurants, bars and nightclubs first, very early in this. And then we did the state home, work at home order. Others implemented their own orders. And I think all of us working together have made a difference. As you see today, today for the first time, Oahu had zero new cases. Well, that doesn't mean the virus is an out there, but that's a good sign. That's a good sign. Is it? I mean, it is. And the credit goes to the people of Oahu who have followed these different orders, practiced good social distancing. I was just out for a little bit this afternoon and I saw masks on almost everybody. That's the kind of new normal we're going to be living with governor for a long time to come because the virus is still among us. It just means maybe it's not spreading as quickly. So we flattened the curve. Remember, we saw this curve coming up, right? We pounded it down and it's, you know, on Oahu, it's four, five, six, seven cases, four cases, three cases, four cases, three cases, two now zero. Doesn't mean tomorrow we won't have some additional ones. But it does say that we're flattening that curve through all of our hard practice, but if we're not careful, give you hope, though, doesn't it? I mean, that's good news. And I'm glad the people who are hearing it today, you know, can take some comfort in the fact that the sacrifices that you and people of Oahu have made are starting to pay off. You know, you think about the sacrifices that have been made. I mean, you got the social distancing challenges, but the impact on people's lives and on the economy is something like we haven't seen in 100 years, probably, since the Great Depression. And, you know, I think of everyone out there, what they've done in the sacrifices that they made to get to this point. And I hate to see it go the other way. So we've got to keep practicing this good social distancing. We have to continue to make sure that that, you know, we don't let this virus come back. And so it's really critical that we keep practicing the orders that we put in place. Well, it seems that you have your hands full with the county. Now, what's the, what's it like interfacing with the state? I mean, what's the what's the order of collaboration? I mean, you work with the health department, the governor's office. How does all of this fit together? You know, we talk to everybody today. I've talked to the governor twice, once before noon and once, maybe around one o'clock. So I'm talking to the governor on a regular basis on various issues. The conversation this afternoon was about how do we open up? You know, what is the science? What are the triggers to doing this? What are the triggers? One, I think we've got to make sure that as we go forward, we make that there's enough ICU rooms, there's enough ventilators, there's enough health care personnel out there to handle the virus at any given level. And also seeing that the numbers remain low for a period of time. You know, a good number would be 14, 15 days. It stays low or maybe even zero. You know, the island of Coyt now is saying, I think they're going into their fifth day of zero cases. Seeing it stay low or staying at zero is a way to say we can start to open up, but very carefully. So as we start to open up, you need to have the science behind it. How do you measure where the virus is? And you can't see it. So you've got to go out and test this. Is that our way of sending out scouts? Where is this virus hiding? You can't see it. You got to find where it is. And then you got to measure it. And so very aggressive testing, as you saw the University of Hawaii this weekend, an issue to report saying exactly that. Active, aggressive testing, not passive, just sitting down and waiting for people to get sick and they come in and get tested. But going out and testing people. Mr. Mayor, do we have enough test kits and do we have enough equipment to do what's necessary? I think we're getting more. I think we're getting to the point where you can acquire more test kits. They may not be all FDA approved gold staff. They could be approved under their emergency authorization or they could be following the FDA guidelines, which other jurisdictions are using. And this jurisdiction is in fact using the other parties, not just the testing, you need the PPE. And so we are what the PPD. What's what PPE, personal protection equipment, PPE. You got the triple P, private partnership. You got the PPE. That's the that's the John Henry Felix favorite. He goes all around now telling everybody for public, private partnership, private partnership. Yeah. But this is the, you know, it's the surgical mask. It's the the the visor. It's the the the garb garment that you wear is the gloves that you have. So those, if you go up to Queens Hospital, you see everyone wearing PPE. Our first responders, particularly EMS, when they get called to go and take care of someone who they think may have COVID-19, they put on the PPE firefighters. When they go at the EMS, do the same. And of course, police officers, if they're dealing with someone who they think could be a suspect for COVID-19, they would put on PPE. We need sufficient quantities of that to do the testing. And so the city of County of Honolulu is looking to acquire that PPE and looking to acquire tests so it could more actively and aggressively go out and test folks. And when you find positives, we immediately put them into a place where they can be protected and kept safe. Some use the word isolation. I don't like that term. I think of somewhere where they can be cocooned and taken care of. And then we do contact tracing. We asked that person, who else did you come into contact with? Where do you work? Where do you live? And we go and talk to those people and say, how did you interact with this person? And if they're showing signs, they get tested too. And this is how you keep that curve lower as we open up. Is there any hope you think that we might have a universal testing where anyone who wants it can just go in and get a test? Just if nothing else to feel secure about their health? No, long term, that would be something I'd like to see. Right now, as you mentioned, the number of test kits are limited and so you don't want to right now open it up to everyone, whether you have symptoms or not. But let's say, you know, a month from now, as more and more supplies come on hand, more and more companies are creating these kits that perhaps you would test everyone just to give them a peace of mind or more importantly, testing every single first responder, whether they showed symptoms or not. And when I say first responder, it's not just police, fire and EMS. It's those who are in the hospitals in the healthcare system, those taking care of our seniors and even our park folks. You know, there are park first people who are in cleaning restrooms that are all open now for a homeless population, but they're concerned about contacting the virus as they go into unsanitary situations. So they could be tested too. But yes, if we have enough supplies and we're not taking it away from those who really need to be tested, I think testing everyone is something that would be helpful to know where the virus is and where it isn't. And even if it comes back, you test because you may not yet have the symptoms. You could even retest. This is the swab we're talking about. It's called a PRC test, but at some point there's an antibody test, the RNA test and, you know, RNA test. And so as we get more of those RNA tests, these are like the Abbott laboratory test, which is not offered to many yet will be. That's another way to test for the antibody to find out did you have it and are you now no longer carrying the symptoms of symptoms of it? You built up the antibodies like you and I to the flu, you know, we bet all the antibodies and we don't get sick a second time, but the flu virus can change the next year. And that's why we get the vaccine to put the antibodies into us. You know, Mr. Mayor, I can't help but think that if there's such a need, I get called every so often from people who are saying, you know, we got these, we got tests and we got masks and we got this and we got any. Is there like a central place where people who think that they can provide any of this could go and call and, you know, find out whether what they have is actually something that is needed. So, you know, we like you, I get calls all the time from I can imagine, right? And the country, you know, from China, from South Korea, from East Coast, West Coast, from Europe. And we do have someone designated the sitting counting for Lulu, who takes those calls of an offer of assistance and they funnel and look through it to make sure that if they're if we're buying PPE that is appropriate and approved by the FDA and that is prices reasonable. You know, some people say we've got great, great things for you and they actually are pretty good. But the cost is three times what you can acquire at anywhere else. And why do human beings do that? Why do they? Well, maybe these people aren't doing that. But why do people always seem to gorge when there is making money? You know, capitalism, I say, is a strong driver. And so people are always looking to make money. And unfortunately, someone to make more money than others. And so we want to be careful with everybody out of, you know, I don't think that anybody should. Well, I don't know. Maybe there is somebody out there who's willing to to give it to the people of Honolulu. I hope I hope so. But um, so let me tell you that, Governor, real quick, there is, you know, Duane Kurisu and his his son, Robert and his other son, Brandon, actually put together a Hui is called Everyone Hawaiʻi. And it's they're acquiring masks, millions of them, and they're giving them for free. They're not purchasing, they're paying for them. And they're good quality masks. They're they're face coverings. They're not surgical masks. They're not in 95 masks that we leave for our first responders. But there's an example of people who stepped up, particularly the millennials in this case, his sons and with a couple of others, Nicole Velasco, Zach Noyles, and they've come together and put together and they're acquiring these masks and flying them in and then handing them out for free all over the island. Well, thanks. Thanks for the shout out because I think people like that we ought to do something. I mean, we ought to radically acknowledge maybe having them acknowledged by your office or the governor's office for contributing. When we get back and we need to take a one minute break, when we get back, is there would be possible to get the number of the person name and number of the person that someone who thinks that they can help should be calling in your office? Yes. All right, we'll be right back. Aloha, I'm Kisha King, host of Crossroads and Learning on Think Tech, Hawaii. On Crossroads and Learning, our guests and I discuss all aspects of education here in Hawaii and throughout the country. You can join us for stimulating conversations to enrich and liven and educate. We are streamed live on Think Tech biweekly at four p.m. on Mondays. Thanks so much for watching our show. We look forward to seeing you then. Aloha. Welcome back to think talk story with John White here on Think Tech, Hawaii and our guest this afternoon is none other than the mayor of the city and county of Honolulu, Kurt Conwell. And Kurt, we were just ending the conversation and you actually was were doing a shout out to the Carisos, the Duane and his sons who have been stepped up and I'm and providing mask free to anybody that wants them. And and also I'm sure there are other people like that in the in the city and county of Honolulu and some day we ought to acknowledge these heroes in a public way, you know, just I couldn't think about that while we were on break. It would be really nice. There's a lot of people when we get through this, there's a whole bunch of people we need to acknowledge, you know, these unsung heroes who stepped up in ways we'll not know, unless we honor them. And I do think at some point, Governor, that should occur to tell these stories about who we are as a people. And there's some very heroic stories out there. You know, the idea of community of not letting any of this actually divide us but bring us together. I think, you know, Hawaii is very fortunate that we have a sense of community to start with. And we at least to me doesn't seem like we are letting this particular challenge tear that apart. And I think, Mr. Mayor, you ought to be very proud of your city in that regard. But I'm proud of the Oahu and I'm proud of the people of Hawaii. I mean, we really have stepped up together. There's some little bit, you know, Pelikia here and there, but we're humans. But for the most part, I think as a state, as a people, as an island community, we've really come together and helped each other out. And, you know, there's a lot of sadness here, but there's some great pride to see the kind of things that people have done. And, you know, you as the former governor of the state, I know you must feel great pride. I do. And especially when I see all of our government workers, you know, people who we we take for granted and and seeing them just continuing to do what's necessary so that the rest of us can be safe. I mean, look at the governor. I wanted to you talked about the mask. I didn't want to offer two things. If you go to the website, www. Every one number one and E Hawaii.com. So W W W dot every one, the number one and E Hawaii.com. And you can order a mask if you have if you if you have a way to get on to the internet. If you have mass that you want to to offer for free, even if it's one box, or if you have people who you think are going to provide cell masks, I think the best way to do it is call 768 city. It's our hotline number. We have people there all the time. So if you call, you'll get a call. You'll get someone picking up. It won't be a recording. And then we'll ask someone over there when they get the calls for your your your this broadcast will make sure they get in touch with the person over at EMS who handles this, but we don't want to flood their phone, their personal phone with all kinds of calls. Again, the number is the number is 768 city 768 city 768 city. That's your hotline, your normal hotline. Call your normal hotline. And we can do some of that. You know, Mr. Mayor, I know your message is getting out there because I've seen people who are homeless. Unfortunately, doing this crisis. Yes, wearing mask, which I think is a good thing. You know, I guess we hope that they they're seeing that. Yeah, I mean, even people who can't help their circumstances are out there trying to get things to the place where we can go back to a well, I don't know whether normal is the right word. But you know, and then we earlier talked about the fact that if people have things to donate, things to sell, they think that can be used. You actually have a number that they can call. Would it be the same number? City should call 768 city and say we have something to sell or offer for free. And then we'll get them in touch with the person at the city who's handling that. But we don't want to give their person their number because they're not there to answer every call that comes in. They kind of analyze and look at what's needed. They know what the supply and demand is for PPE for our first responders and others. But they'll help screen it. And if it looks good, they'll follow up with a call. That's fantastic. And I'm going to call you just for one of those Palakka masks. So jealous, you know, it's like, why does he I said good. But anyway, you know what's happening in the country right now, though, as Hawaii seems to be moving along pretty well, doing this this crisis, the rest of the country are parts of the country are talking about, you know, live saving people's lives are not as important as restarting the economy and the like. So they are actually trying to accelerate the return back to something less than what we have now. What any thoughts about? Well, first of all, any thoughts, any reaction to what they're doing. And then your own thoughts about how we should structure possibly our return to some degree of normalcy. So one thing is very, very, very disappointing and and downright disturbing that we see these kind of protests in front of, you know, state capitals, including ours yesterday, by people who are the one very ones were trying to protect, you know, their folks sometimes. And, you know, this is about all of us. And we need to act responsibly, responsibly everybody. And so you have this small minority who now want to accelerate and opening up. And if this occurs, if we rip the mandate off, and we go back to where we were before, we will see a spike like we saw in New York, or New Jersey, or Italy, or France, or Spain, and then people are going to die. And they're going to be in the hospital. There won't be enough ventilators they'll be put in the hallway and doctors will be determining who lives and who dies. You know, you've done so much, the entire nation has sacrificed. At this point, let's start to open up but in a methodical way based on science, one step at a time. Go out there, open up a little bit, test aggressively, contact trace, isolate, see what happens if the cases remain low, open up a little bit more. Do the same thing again. You know, test aggressively, contact trace and isolate. If there's a spike stop, maybe retreat a bit, get things under control, then move forward. This way we'll be opened up in the long run to have more healthy condition again. Then these folks who say let's just go all out today and see another spike and then we have to roll back to day one from the beginning. What's amazing is that it's being funded by these billionaire types or very rich, right wing people who actually are not at risk themselves except their ability to make money. You know, like in I think that's true. I heard in Michigan, it was the voice family who actually started things like like Emily that are, which is a good line of products. But Emily, which are now sponsoring some of this protest. And I think one of the family members is in the Trump administration, in fact. Wow. So unfortunately, it's a divorce. But they are underscoring and I obviously you and I both don't agree with these actions at all. But they are underscoring the fact that when we get back to some idea of normalcy, when we have protect our people's health to the point where we can start thinking about, you know, going back to work, so to speak, that there's going to be a need to restart our economy, especially our travel economy. And I was just and this may not be a fair question at the moment, but knowing you, I know that you are already thinking about how we may be able to do that, you know, what needs to what we might be able to do to do that in an orderly way. And if you don't mind and can't share with us some of these thoughts, I think we'd appreciate it. We know if you if you look at the rankings of Hawaii compared to other state in the nation, we rank at the very bottom now in terms of the number of cases per capita, the number of deaths per capita. And so we are considered one of the most healthy states in terms of COVID-19 with the fewest number of cases. And a lot of that is because of our of our geography. We talk about physical distancing, you can't throw that better than in Hawaii, not any removal from the rest of the continental United States, but also the islands are separate from each other. And so that's really helped along with all the different practicing that our residents have shown under our state home and work at home orders. So we have a very good result. The nation is noticing it. And I think as people want to start traveling, they're going to say, I want to go to somewhere where it's safe and healthy and healthy. And they got it under control. And that is Hawaii. So we want to come. So in one way, we have an advantage when travel starts again now that the thing we got to address is people start to come when people travel, the virus travels. And so we have to make sure that as people start to come back to Hawaii, that they're not bringing the virus here. And I think there is hope on the horizon. And that is the antibody test, the RNA test, that could you it's a rapid test. You get it back in 15 minutes. And perhaps you could require people before they come to Hawaii, before they get on the plane. They take the test. And if they are clean, they can come. If they're not, they can't come. In fact, I think the federal government should get a card that says whether someone has the antibodies or not. And you can travel based on that. It's kind of like having a passport. It's like a health port in a way that they say you're OK. You can travel. So that was one thing that we've discussed. Well, I think you just made the slogan for the tourism industry. You say, come to the healthiest state in the nation. Come to where you can freely do everything that you want to do on a vacation. That's a great thought. And pre-testing people coming over might be a really good idea. Now, there's another one. If you saw on the Honolulu Star advertiser last week, Thursday, they have a section on Japan every week. And a picture in it was a half a page picture of Norita Airport. You'll recognize it as you come down the escalators and you go through customs. And there's all these Japanese folks sleeping on beds, cardboard kind of beds with a blanket. And what they do is everyone coming through Norita has to be tested. Now, this is a PRC test. So it's the swab test. They get it back in 48 hours. So everyone quarantines in this area until the test comes back. And if it tests negative, they're allowed to enter Japan and go to other cities. If it tests positive, then they're quarantined and taken care of. So that's another way. Now, this is the existing technique. The science of swab is pretty good. And you can get the results back quicker and quicker. But that's another way. So people could come to Hawaii, but they'd have to agree to quarantine until their results are shown. And then they can go about and travel throughout Hawaii. Now that's a little more ornerous because you've got to quarantine for some period of time. But once they clear that quarantine, they're free to go into the rest of the islands. So that's another way to look at it and try to open up for tourism. We want to thank you, Mr. Mayor, for joining us this afternoon and taking time out of your very busy schedule. And I personally want to join a lot of people in thanking you for all that you do doing this time and just in general. And to acknowledge once again the Duane Carisos of the world and others who are giving of their resources to help us all through this. And Mr. Mayor, who knows? You might have come up with the idea to rescue our travel industry. Well, join us folks. It's not my ideas. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yeah. Thank you, Governor. We'll talk again. Mahalo. Thanks for all you do. Mahalo.