Aloha friends,
I’m writing to give you a few updates on what I’ve been working on over the past month.
COVID-19 Pandemic
As of January 4th, there are 176 COVID-19 hospitalizations in Hawaii and 28,147 active cases over all, giving us a 0.63% hospitalization rate. When we previously peaked on Sepetember 3rd, we had a COVID-19 hospital admission rate of 3.9%. That means that
folks are now much less likely to go to the hospital now than during the previous surge.
I know that many of you and your families are concerned about the Omicron variant.
Per the CDC’s guidance, the best thing that you can do right now to protect yourself and your loved ones from the Coronavirus pandemic is to get vaccinated and your booster shot, if eligible. The vaccine is overwhelmingly successful at preventing death and serious long-term illness from COVID-19.
We will continue to monitor transmissions and new variants in the international community so we can make sure Hawai’i is well-protected against the spread of COVID-19.
Kahaule Initiative
Together with Homeaid Hawai’i, my office started the Kauhale initiative to provide communal living centers to the chronically homeless for a sense of community and stability.
Our goal is to open 12 Kauhale communities in Hawaii. We currently have four locations surveyed for Kauhale development on Oahu: Kalaeloa, Waimanalo, Nimitz, and Sand Island.
For more information,
please visit my office’s official website.
Red Hill
The biggest story in Hawaii right now is a water supply contamination resulting from a leak from the Navy’s Red Hill fuel storage facility. Regardless of the cause, it’s critical that we protect our water supply from contamination.
We can’t risk exposing our children to further leaks or spills.
I feel strongly that these fuel tanks will have to be moved above ground.
This is an enormous project but, if the Governor, the Navy, the DOH, independent observers and the EPA can work together, we can make sure it doesn’t happen again.
I also believe that we need to declare a state of emergency to afford the resources necessary to expedite our response, get clean water to the families impacted and protect our aquifer.
I feel for the families who worry about how this contaminated water may affect them. I’m making sure that the Navy goes the extra mile here: they aren’t just going to clean up the spill, they need to give us the data to understand exactly what went wrong so we can prevent it from happening again in the future.
Connect with us on Social Media
If you’d like more updates on what my team is up to and other relevant Hawai’i issues, follow us on social media!
I’m working hard every day to keep Hawaii safe and informed with accurate information.
Mahalo for your continued support.
– Dr. Josh Green
