Hawaii health care workers decry lack of COVID mandates

By CALEB JONES
Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — Health care workers in Hawaii say a lack of government action is worsening an already crippling surge of coronavirus cases in the islands, and without effective policy changes the state’s limited hospitals could face a grim crisis. An infectious diseases doctor says the state’s health care workers could soon have to decide “who lives and dies.” Even as hospitals fill up and morgues bring in portable containers for bodies, leaders have made virtually no major changes in policy. While the governor recently suggested that tourists stop coming to Hawaii, he didn’t change any official travel rules. The governor did, however, sign an order this week that releases health care workers and hospitals from liability during the surge.