Gov. David Ige, the four county mayors and police leaders Friday urged Hawaii residents to act responsibly this Labor Day weekend to avoid putting more pressure on hospitals already under strain.

All state and county law enforcement officers will be out in full force this weekend, ready to issue citations, should they catch anyone violating current gathering restrictions under COVID-19 emergency rules.

“Because of COVID the hospital systems across the state are in danger of moving toward the worst-case scenario,” said Ige during a news conference Friday. “If that happens, we have heard from our health care leaders that people may not receive the care that they need, and certainly some may die. Our choices today and over this weekend can help prevent the worst-case scenario for our health care system, so please act responsibly this holiday weekend and moving forward as we battle this highly transmissible COVID-19 delta variant. Do it for the sake of your family, our community and the state.”

The state Department of Health on Friday reported seven new coronavirus-related deaths and 865 new infections statewide, bringing the state’s totals since the start of the pandemic to 613 fatalities and 65,890 cases.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is at 867, and the positivity rate at 7.5%.

On Friday a record-high 448 COVID-19 patients were in state hospitals, 98 of them in intensive care and 90 on ventilators, according to the COVID-19 dashboard, edging closer to 500, which has been cited as the “breaking point.”

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi echoed Ige’s statement, saying that “our primary concern is to take the pressure off the hospitals.”

“Now is not a time to be casual,” he said. “You’re going to get today from us a collective urging for all of us to use common sense, to be respectful and to understand the reality of the moment. This is a place we’ve never been in before, and we need to pay attention to that.”

This is not a time for individualism, he added, saying, “You have no right to go out there and harm other people by virtually being infected and infecting other people.”

Under state emergency rules, gatherings are limited to no more than 10 people indoors and 25 outdoors. In Honolulu these gathering limits apply to parks, beaches, trails, campgrounds and social gatherings.

Blangiardi also has issued a new order that makes any violation of emergency rules subject to a $250 fine, with an emphasis on those who gather in large groups and fail to wear masks indoors.

“We are doing everything we can to keep our community safe and healthy by trying to prevent the rising COVID-19 case counts,” said Blangiardi in a follow-up news release. “The hospitalization rates are still extremely high and tragically people are dying. We need everyone’s help to fight this deadly virus by using caution and avoiding large gatherings. However, if you choose not to follow the law, please know we will enforce the orders intended to protect everyone, so we will be ticketing any and all people participating in large gatherings this weekend.”

Interim Honolulu Police Chief Rade Vanic said officers would be issuing citations under the latest emergency order, starting Friday. Also, additional officers will be out this weekend, actively checking beach parks and responding to calls about gatherings at indoor locations that exceed the limits.

“We really do want voluntary compliance,” he said.

Also, police will set up DUI checkpoints throughout the state this weekend, and are urging people not to drink and drive.

Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami also issued a new emergency rule establishing fines of $250 for individuals and $500 for businesses and event planners that do not comply with COVID safety rules.

Jill Hoggard Green, president and CEO of The Queen’s Health Systems, said that during her rounds Friday morning, she found physicians and staff that are very tired and stretched thin.

The delta variant is highly transmissible, she said, and can cause severe consequences, particularly for people who are unvaccinated. Of the COVID-19 patients in the hospitals now, she said 85% are unvaccinated.

“We are in a point in time where we need your help, and each of us can take control of this,” she said, by staying safe at home, within a small ohana bubble, masking, keeping socially distanced and being vaccinated.

The Manoa Neighborhood Board, however, sent a letter to Ige and Blangiardi earlier this week saying that with the pandemic “raging out of control” across Oahu, it would like to see more mitigations immediately.

In addition to mandatory testing of all arrivals to Hawaii — visitors and residents alike — prior to and after arriving in the state, it would like a temporary two- to three-week shutdown to bring down new coronavirus cases, and the suspension of all large gatherings of 10 and more.

It would, however, like the government to keep open outdoor spaces such as beaches, parks and trails.

“We need greater action appropriate to the present level of disease now harming health and safety across Oahu,” the board said in the letter, which also requested that the Department of Education implement a strategy to allow remote learning.

Ige, however, said the state needs to consider the need to get “our community back to work.”

“We think that we’ve been very focused on restricting those instances we believe have led to most of the virus cases,” he said, “and certainly we continue to look at other ways we can restrict further action as necessary.”

Blangiardi said the situation is very fluid. Over the Fourth of July weekend, the city was hoping to lift restrictions, and all of a sudden, the state is heading into Labor Day weekend with higher case counts and hospitalizations.

“One thing people need to be aware of is we really want to avoid the economic consequences of a lockdown even though that hangs in the balance and we all know that,” he said.

The city is prepared to offer more testing, more vaccinations, and to urge people to use common sense and act responsibly — all it can do short of locking down the community.

“We don’t want to take the next step,” he said. “If worse were to come to worse, I will be prepared to ask the governor to have a curfew, to impose that, and probably after that, subsequent steps. We don’t want to get there. We need the community to help us manage through this, and that’s our request.”