Disclaimer: This is a thread about #Covid19 on Oahu. Unless stated otherwise, points made are only observations and hypotheses I’m presenting to get wheels turning in people’s mind and hopefully relay the importance of staying home this weekend.

I’ve seen people online complaining about this weekend’s curfew. I get that it’s got its issues. In fact, @HawaiiCSW makes a good point by asking for clarification on exemptions for women seeking help. As a service provider, I’ve SEEN the increase in DV since isolation started.

But I’ve also seen some wannabe-truthseeking-gotta-save-the-sheeple-type conspiracy theorists giving their 2¢ about how this is a plot to control the public… And yes, there IS an element of controlling people because some of these folks don’t know what “stay at home” means.

I get that this is a challenging time and it feels like we don't know the full details about things, which we likely don’t. I also get that, for the handful of humane people in leadership positions, wanting to inform the public without causing panic is a difficult task.

But if you look around, do some reading, and make plausible connections-- there is AMPLE good reason to try to abide by the curfew and keep your ass at home as much as possible this weekend.

Remember when I shared some news stories about the State of Hawaii making requests to FEMA for help handling anticipated deaths resulting from #Covid19? You make requests like this because you're running scenarios and emergency planning. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/25/coronavirus-ny-hawaii-north-carolina-ask-fema-for-help-handling-dead.html

With that in mind, knowing that it's Easter weekend and that a lot of us have large families that typically gather at church and in homes for this holiday, there are obvious concerns that come into play.

It should come as no surprise to anyone who's lived in Hawaii for a time that the local healthcare system is low on resources. Any major traumas/accidents this weekend will take up those resources, as this excellent Reddit comment points out.

I had to do some digging, but I’ve managed to learn that, of the 455 ventilators on Oahu, roughly half of them are at Tripler. That means the other half (maybe 228?) is divided amongst all the HNL hospitals and those outside of town. That's roughly a dozen other hospitals..?

As of noon today, there were 348 confirmed cased of #Covid19 in Honolulu County. We still don't know exactly how many confirmed cases there are within the military locally and it's likely that the DOD isn't going to be sharing those details with us.

348 isn’t far from 455. That’s not to say that everyone is going to need a vent, but we don’t know. No one does. Any accidents this weekend will take up resources. Any people infected this weekend will take up resources. Easter gatherings = Virus spreading. This is basic logic.

But our local healthcare system isn’t just low on supplies. Our local healthcare system is low on healthcare workers. Right now, there is active recruitment for respiratory therapists going on around the United States for Hawaii.

Basic assumption: No government wants to spend money to bring in people from the outside to do the work of people they already have unless they don’t have enough people to do that work. Not when they could give themselves raises, redecorate their offices, or the like.

Logical Conclusion: We don’t have enough respiratory therapists in Hawaii to handle the anticipated surge of #Covid19 cases, particularly if people aren't abiding by the curfew and staying home this weekend.

Not enough people realize that respiratory therapists are the front line in this pandemic. They work in acute-care hospital settings. That includes the emergency room, the intensive care unit, the NICU/pediatric ICU, and the pulmonary diagnostics lab. AND WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH.

I read this story by @lynnkawano the other night and couldn’t help but wonder if the allocated rooms were for the respiratory therapists being recruited here from the continent… https://twitter.com/LynnKawano/status/1248480074690527232?s=20

Another thing I noticed, and this one is just a hypothesis on my part, is the sealing off of most of Thomas Square just recently. I did some asking around and (possibly sanitation?) workers were spraying the ground with foam yesterday, but I don't know much more than that.

Today, workers from Parks and Recreation were there doing something. I haven't been able to find out much else, but it's hard not to wonder if they're preparing the space for hospital overflow or even extra morgue space.

Again, this thread is mainly observations/inferences so I could easily be wrong. The idea is to get wheels turning in people's heads about the importance of social distancing, the stay-at-home order, & the curfew. Any helpful insight/corrections are welcome!