Open county pools
This is an open letter to Mayor Harry Kim.
Despite your concerns about spreading the COVID-19 virus, there doesn’t appear to be any evidence that swimming in public pools is putting anyone at greater risk than any of the other social gatherings, such as going to church or a campground. If anything, it might be safer.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website: “There is no evidence that the virus that causes COVID-19 can be spread to people through the water in pools, hot tubs, spas or water play areas. Proper operation and maintenance (including disinfection with chlorine and bromine) of these facilities should inactivate the virus in the water.”
Just as long as precautions are taken in the shower rooms, there is no reason why a swimmer couldn’t wear a mask prior to and after a healthy workout.
Please reconsider your decision about opening our public pools, Mr. Kim. It just makes good sense.
Reed Vallance
Hilo
Bad time for subsidies
Two hundred fifty thousand dollars in golf subsidies — now?
You’ve got to be kidding! I wonder how many of our taxpayers would agree with your priorities, council members.
Martie Buchanan
Hilo
Provide masks
I fly to Oahu for medical treatment, and airlines are concerned that if they have an empty seat next to every passenger, they won’t be able to earn enough to stay in business.
My suggestion is to give every passenger a medical-grade mask that actually filters out viruses to replace the cloth ones that do not, which is what most people are actually wearing.
If they did that, I would feel comfortable in a flight that was fully booked (well, not “comfortable,” but safe).
Carl Oguss
Volcano
Reopen B&Bs
The Hawaii governor and mayors are doing the bidding of big, offshore corporations by keeping legal B&Bs and short-term vacation rentals not only closed, but offline.
As long as our taxpaying, licensed business is kept from advertising online, we can’t get reservations for future business.
We complied with all of the county Planning Department’s onerous rules. We’ve always paid taxes like most vacation rentals. Now, they want our legitimate business to just wait.
Under the common-sense guidelines for the COVID-19 pandemic, vacation rentals are actually the safest place to stay. There is no congregating in groups of any size more than a family.
At the very least, allow B&Bs and vacation rentals to take reservations for future dates. As with hotels, half of our reservations are booked nine months to a year in advance.
Support Hawaii’s small businesses.
Kirk Puuohau-Pummill
Keaau