CALM people always talk about the right situation to pick your battles.

Now is not a calm time.

After being told it would not be allowed to host spectators at its sporting events for the next month, the University of Hawaii now must put up its dukes and fight the ban. UH needs to tell government officials, who on Monday expanded restrictions to all large gatherings on Oahu, that there is a way to provide a safe setting for sports fans.

Yes, the number of COVID-19 cases is skyrocketing and, yes, hundreds of nurses are arriving to ease the burden on ERs that are filled to capacity. We also know that non-emergency procedures are being postponed.

But there are ways, according to government-suggested protocols, to keep spectators safe at open-air events. We know that vaccines are a way to steer us back to what used to be normal. Vaccines are effective against the coronavirus, and they are overwhelmingly successful in reducing hospitalizations and death. We know this because on Monday the FDA approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. We know this because government officials are allowing vaccinated passengers through the airport checkpoints.

In discussions to accommodate fans, UH proposed allowing only mask-wearing vaccinated spectators to attend its sporting events. For football games at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Complex, the marching band volunteered to stand in an area safely distanced from the bleachers. UH will not allow tailgating on its campus. It was willing to consider limiting or closing concession booths. UH was agreeable to limiting capacity at 9,000-seat Ching field. Usage in the restrooms already was adequately spaced (although if face-to-face encounters at the urinals were problematic, there might be bigger issues involved).

And still, approval for spectators was not granted.

It has been argued the optics would be bad if large gatherings were allowed during a pandemic. But that is an optical illusion. Restaurants, bars and malls are open on a limited basis. Arriving airplanes are full. This week, UH students returned to campus for in-class instruction. The other 128 FBS teams have found a way to allow fans at their football games.

UH did its due diligence. When it had to relocate its home football games because of structural-safety concerns at Aloha Stadium — where it played 45 seasons — to on campus, government officials were updated regularly on the $8.3 million project to retrofit Ching field. A group of lawmakers toured Ching field last week. If there were any concerns, it was not apparent in the social-media posts.

UH required its student-athletes and coaches to be vaccinated to play in games and have use of the locker rooms. An arrangement with LumiSight was set up to medically screen campus visitors and to verify vaccinations.

In the end, the greater powers said, “not now.”

The question is: When? The ban will be evaluated after a month. Would new daily infections being down to 100 or 75 or 50 be enough to lift the ban? Who knows? Government officials did not set an achieve-it-to-relieve-it goal.

Meanwhile, if the ban is not rescinded, UH will take a hit in finances and reputation. UH already is checking under sofa cushions to cover the Ching retrofitting. Now it has to offer refunds? The shoestring budget is already frayed.

We can imagine how this kick-the-can situation will play out. It wouldn’t be surprising if the ban were lifted on Nov. 21 — the day after this season’s final home football game.