It’s the simple things that people have missed the most over the course of this pandemic, as the two-year mark appears just over the horizon. The ease of inviting friends and family to the house for a meal, the fun of an impromptu night on the town.
All of those things have become so complicated by COVID-19, and last year those complications were seen in Thanksgiving gatherings far more restrained than anyone wanted.
This Thanksgiving, a pathway to some kind of normalcy has been lit. The illumination comes from Tuesday’s announcement of social gathering sizes being lifted on Oahu.
That drew applause from everyone longing for the traditional reunions around the dinner table — and for recovery after dinner watching football on TV. Looking ahead to Christmas and the rest of the holiday season, this will enable the return of familiar pleasures that had to be set aside for the past 21 months.
Even more importantly, the joint briefings by
Gov. David Ige and the county mayors signaled Hawaii is beginning a new phase in navigating the pandemic. Ige has released control of most local restrictions to the county mayors.
And overall the call is going out to individual residents to use their own best judgment about safe practices, especially in their own private gatherings.
That’s a move in the right direction. As COVID-19 transitions from an acute health crisis to an endemic disease, managing it will require individuals to become conscious of the risks — and responsible for assessing them well.
Hawaii has lived under emergency proclamations since March 4, 2020, and some argue that this has gone on for too long. Nevertheless, Ige has decided that there will be a new emergency order effective Dec. 1, just after the current one lapses next Tuesday.
Given that a lot of congregating will be happening over the holidays, among residents and visitors alike, it’s reasonable to assume some statewide controls still are needed. Ige will be keeping in place the Safe Travels Hawaii program that has effectively provided guardrails, mandating vaccination or negative test results for any inbound traveler wanting to escape the state’s pandemic quarantine.
Further, vaccine or testing mandates are being kept for state and county workers, contractors and visitors to state facilities.
Indoor masking in public spaces is still being mandated, but considering what’s being dropped — there will no longer be 6-foot distancing, capacity limits or contact tracing requirements for venues — that makes perfect sense.
In all, Hawaii has ample cause to be thankful this year, reflecting on how things looked in the previous holiday season, when vaccines signified only a hopeful future.
Since then, those who have taken the shot, and now the booster doses, have had a layer of protection. Those who have fallen ill to COVID-19 now also have improved therapies, including newly developed pill forms awaiting emergency authorization.
These will be game-changers, allowing individuals to treat their own infections more normally at home, avoiding hospitalization, which is the primary objective.
All of that America owes to science, which has developed these treatments in record time.
The hope now is that Hawaii will continue to put COVID-19, if not out of sight, at least on the back burner. To do so will require recognition that coping with a pandemic means some sacrifice for the good of the community. Another hope: The nation will have learned from mistakes how better to navigate through such a crisis with far less devastation in its wake.
But today is a celebration, one for sharing with our loved ones. Happy Thanksgiving.
