Read on Twitter
Ever wonder why all tourists coming to Hawaiʻi, no matter what their quarantine plans are, all fly on the same planes here? A thread:
1/ Asked Lt. Gov Josh Green how is it that this is okay, and he cited one study. Here’s our interaction on IG and the link he’s posting: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/defense-department-study-finds-low-risk-of-coronavirus-infection-through-air-on-a-packed-airline-flight/2020/10/15/e84aa092-0e30-11eb-8a35-237ef1eb2ef7_story.html
2/ Like I note in the IG comments, the study itself notes its limitations: it doesn’t account for boarding/departing procedures or passengers removing masks momentarily or that mannequins don’t behave like humans. Green erased all of our interaction and shadow banned me.
3/ Green said “wait for the peer review,” which is odd, because he should have waited for a peer review before reopening tourism in HI and risking the lives of locals.
4/ Of note: the article Green cited quotes only tourism/aviation industry profiteers saying “Your chances of COVID exposure on a United aircraft are nearly nonexistent, even if your flight is full,”-Toby Enqvist, United Airlines Chief Customer Officer.
5/ Today, Washington Post published an article about that very study Green said was sufficient to prove that all tourists on the same planes flying to HI is just fine. The headline reiterates the limitations of the study, and its lack of peer review: https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2020/10/23/safe-flights-plane-covid/#click=https://t.co/fo3F30aJqK
6/ In a very revealing section of this article, the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) president Hassan Shahidi echoes others in the confident claim of low level transmission but also that there’s not really any numbers they have to prove that:
7/ Also revealing: that the FSF plans to get these numbers from the reopening of tourism in Hawaiʻi because the actual risk of in flight transmission is something they don’t have data for yet.
8/ Recap: Green cited a study awaiting peer review to show that risk of in flight transmission is minimal, and reopening HI will be safe. Doctors say the study isn’t really sufficient. More data to review that is needed and they’ll collect it from Hawaiʻi.
9/ Conclusion: By reopening, we're providing the data that was necessary to prove the study as sufficient or not. It isn't the case that we're reopening based on a study. The study will examine the reopening.
10/ This really reinforces for me the idea that the state isn't necessarily what we can depend on to care for our community. It's more important now that we take care of one another where and when we can. Reach out. Ask if your friends/family need help. Be there for one another.
Green hasn’t been on Twitter since he shamefully blamed Covid spikes on Pacific cultural traditions. He sticks to IG these days. Ask him about his peer reviewed study: https://www.instagram.com/p/CGtGsi2Dflo/?igshid=fzsf6hdsl5jv
