Require vaccinations for restaurant diners

With the surge in new cases of the COVID-19 delta variant, bar and restaurant owners fear the city may reimpose restrictions on total capacity and the number of people at a table.

On the other hand, many people who would like to socialize are wary of going to restaurants and bars because of the risk of infection from unvaccinated customers.

But now, with most adults vaccinated, it would make sense for local proprietors to adopt the policy many restaurants on the mainland are using: Require proof of vaccination to be seated.

Such a policy would be reassuring to prospective customers concerned about exposure to COVID-19, and it’s reasonable to assume, given the number of people vaccinated, demand would even increase.

Food and beverage establishments don’t need city approval to implement this requirement, and it might encourage hesitant people to get vaccinated.

John Williamson

Manoa

Muddled messages from public officials

Leadership has failed to contain the COVID-19 infections. The messaging has been scattered at best and contradictory at worst.

Lt. Gov. Josh Green says if you’re vaccinated, go ahead and travel. The state Health Department director, Dr. Libby Char, says do not travel. The governor is slow to take mitigation actions. A prominent morning radio personality says COVID-19 information in the media is fake news and he questions the efficacy of masks.

None of this is helpful. A failure to present uniform messaging has overloaded health care workers and facilities. The state must now provide relief.

Perhaps the state and county need to set up a COVID-19 triage site at the Convention Center or the Blaisdell Center and ask the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to send help.

Non-COVID-19 emergencies need attention, too. Leadership has an obligation to provide relief to overwhelmed health care systems and workers.

Deborah Kim

Mililani

Shutdown needed to stop delta variant

During a press conference on Aug. 13, both Gov. David Ige and Health Department Director Dr. Libby Char pleaded with the community statewide not to gather and not to travel because of the highly contagious delta variant.

Pleading will only go so far. Why the reluctance to order a shutdown? Aside from President Joe Biden, only the governor is empowered to mandate a shutdown.

Of course, the economy and local businesses will suffer again. But consider the result of last year’s order. It worked.

Now here comes delta — more deadly, more serious, more contagious — and no shutdown. Why?

Sharon N. Miyashita

Salt Lake

Don’t let Beijing host Winter Olympics

Hawaii was doing so well. Sadly, there’ll be more variants and future pandemics. Travelers infected with a variant in the morning can easily spread the same microbe anywhere else in the word that very evening. Scary.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was first reported in Guangdong province, China, in February 2003, although experts believe it started spreading in China as early as November 2002.

COVID-19 is believed to have originated in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. The Spanish flu of 1918 did not originate in Spain; Claude Hannoun, an expert on the Spanish flu, said in 1993 the flu likely came from China, mutated in the U.S. then spread worldwide.

Is anyone noticing the common denominator here: China?

The Winter Olympics is scheduled for Beijing next year. Knowing what this virus has done to your livelihood (and the world’s), how enthusiastic are you about rewarding China by boosting its economy with the Olympics? The venue needs to be changed.

Lisa Adlong

Hauula

Support TMT for economy, children

Over the last half-century, Hawaii has gained the reputation of being the center of world astronomical research because of a truly unique observing site that hosts the largest telescopes (Keck I and II), with which the most outstanding discoveries have been made.

I am not an astronomer, but I seriously care about science and education and take pride that our islands played a pivotal role in the discovery of the most distant galaxies at the edge of the universe.

If there is one lesson to take away from the pandemic, it is that we cannot entirely rely on tourism to run our economy. We need to make opportunities for our children to get the best education while staying close to their home, culture and heritage. Keeping Hawaii at the forefront of astronomy research will do this.

I passionately support construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Hawaiian soil. I do this because I care about Hawaii and feel its native children deserve the best, to live, educate and prosper close to home.

Sue Johnson

Lahaina

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