I have to take breaks from Twitter. The videos out of there are getting more and more difficult to watch. Gut wrenching.
Hawaii says it can’t be hub for treating new virus
By AUDREY McAVOY
an hour ago
HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii has only a modest healthcare system and can’t be a hub for accommodating people potentially exposed to the rapidly spreading new virus that emerged in China in recent months, Lt. Gov. Josh Green said Monday.
He said the state only has the capacity to handle its own citizens and basic screening unless it gets significant support from the military.
“We are happy to do our part but only modestly as needed for very sick people or for our citizens,” Green said.
Green, who also is an emergency room physician, spoke after the U.S. government announced Honolulu would be one of 11 airports designated to receive U.S. citizens who have traveled in China within the last 14 days.
Hawaii was not currently expecting many potential patients, particularly after China Eastern Airlines, which operated the only direct flight from China to Hawaii, suspended service to the islands, Green said.
He said he’d like the federal government to provide space on a military base with at least 120 beds if a large-scale quarantine is required. He said he doesn’t anticipate that much would be needed, but the state needs to be prepared if the outbreak extends for months longer and breaks out further.
“At all costs we have to be safe,” Green said.
He said the Department of Homeland Security didn’t notify Hawaii in advance that Honolulu was going to be on the list of airports, though state officials were able to talk to department officials over the phone an hour or two after the announcement
https://apnews.com/9e518c3fb016e7026e0587c6fd899063