Published in the West Hawaii Today Dr. Green stated that Hawaii should have a mandatory mask requirement. Plus, it should have a penalty greater than a misdemeanor, it should have a fine. Eight months into the Pandemic and they just now are saying this? This is like saying the horse has been stolen from the barn so we better start locking the barn door. What a great concept, one that should have been implemented on the very first emergency order way back at the very beginning of the Pandemic here in Hawaii. Instead we get hemming and hawing, back and forth, and this is violating my rights and nothing being done other than recommendations or mandates without any teeth. The stores have actually taken stronger action themselves that our government agencies that are supposed to be protecting us. It is still a good idea. Implement it now. It can still have an impact of reducing the numbers of people that will get infected. The real question, can they actually do what they should have done at the beginning of the Pandemic? Will it actually happen before the Pandemic solves itself a couple of years from now? I guess those of us who survive the Pandemic and are still alive in 2022 will find out.
John M Pierce
Waikoloa