Kaua‘i Updates
More on Kaua‘i Updates
August 19, 2020
In The News
(NOTE: Listen to the full interview on kwxx.com)
United State Congress Representative Tulsi Gabbard, who represents Hawaii Island and all the other neighbor islands plus rural O’ahu, talked with New West Broadcasting’s Sherry Bracken on Wednesday, Aug. 19, about the state’s response to COVID-19, its lack of doing appropriate contact tracing, concerns over federal monies allocated for tracing and testing, and the upcoming House bill addressing the issues with the post office.
August 15, 2020
In The News
U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who called for the resignations or firings of state Health Director Bruce Anderson and state epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park in April and again this week, said on Friday that there are fewer than 10 so-called contact tracers on Oahu and fewer than 20 across the entire state--not the nearly 100 that state Health officials claimed this week are tracking down people who may have been exposed to.
August 15, 2020
In The News
US Representative Tulsi Gabbard was joined by three medical experts, including a Department of Health employee whistleblower, criticizing the Hawai’i Department of Health leadership and contact tracing efforts.
State leaders have assured the public that sufficient contact tracing staff were in place; however, the whistleblower said the states contact tracers are “extremely overwhelmed” and unable to conduct contact tracing for many of the positive cases in the state.
August 14, 2020
In The News
With another day of triple-digit spikes in coronavirus cases, a whistleblower is speaking out. She’s a contact tracer with the Hawaii Department of Health who says officials are lying to us about how many are working to track down possible cases.
Dr. Jennifer Smith is with the health department’s Disease Investigative Branch, which is responsible for contact tracing. For months, the DOH has been saying it has close to 100 contact tracers. But Smith says the number is closer to 10.
August 14, 2020
In The News
As the spread of COVID-19 spiraled out of control over the last week on Oahu, a story emerged about mismanagement at the Hawaii Department of Health. Despite previous assurances, Gov. David Ige on Thursday acknowledged that the department hadn’t hired enough disease investigators to contain the virus.
