Compared with the scattered hot spots of COVID-19 outbreaks on the mainland, Hawaii has few real worries about a public health backslide — so far.

Nearly half of other states are seeing an increase in coronavirus infections, about half of those have a spike in hospitalizations, and there are surges in other countries mostly associated with a reopening of attractions, restaurants and businesses. Their numbers are scarier than they are in the islands.

“We continue to be better than all other states,” Gov. David Ige said on Monday. The governor was speaking at a media conference in the wake of Hawaii’s weekend uptick in coronavirus infections, with daily counts of 15 and 17 new cases.

Even so, Ige rightly underscored the need to “take responsibility for living within the mandates” of safety in a pandemic, with state Health Director Bruce Anderson noting that “we’re letting down our guard.”

And although most people are compliant with mask mandates, retailers are reporting rebelliousness among some customers. This attitude signals the need for a reality check.

What’s being witnessed across the country is not the “second wave” anticipated for fall or winter. That would have required state governments to have beaten back the disease to a low level first, and kept it there for some time. In many places, the upward curve of disease had been flattened, briefly, but then activities quickly were allowed to resume.

Because the guard was let down, the first wave of the virus found its opening to infect increasing numbers of people venturing out in public.

Consider what’s called the “reproduction rate” of the states a measure of how the disease is spreading. For example, compare the islands with Arizona, where the R-rate is 1.18, meaning that at least some of the Arizonans testing positive are spreading it to more than one other person each.

The problem is not yet acute in Hawaii, where a low rate of spread and low overall numbers make it among the safest places in the U.S. Hawaii has a “reproduction rate” of 0.85, the sixth-lowest in the country.

That figure means that of those infected with the coronavirus, some of them are not passing it on to even one other person.

But even if the numbers are low, Hawaii doesn’t have much margin for error. Lt. Gov. Josh Green, an emergency room physician, has reminded people frequently that if an increase is not managed, the cases can quickly double, quadruple, and on and on.

It’s critical that Hawaii keeps a handle on this disease, to enable crucial progress of business reopenings in this shattered economy. Anderson assures that the state’s new corps of trained contact tracers — the people working to isolate those in contact with an infected person — is equal to the current task, and then some. Anderson expects 250 tracers to be in place in a year; signups for training are already going well.

That’s great, but the principal task of keeping Hawaii safe still rests with its residents who, in various ways, have demonstrated some impatience with the lockdown. There have been Memorial Day parties, graduation gatherings and political marches — with social distancing that’s been spotty.

Nobody wants a retreat — and there doesn’t have to be one. It is possible to dine out, enjoy the outdoors and resume most routines; Hawaii’s care and initial sacrifices have bought us that much.

But we also have to accept that these new ways of doing things are what make a “new normal” livable. In particular, recent studies show that having 80% of populations wear masks in public settings would drive down infections.

Embracing this new reality, and adopting this simple act, is not too much to ask, with stakes as high as they are.