Bulletin No. 11
Date/Time sent: 07/27/2020 8:40 amContact us if you have:
tested positive, are symptomatic, or were in contact with a positive case at (808) 689-2525 or covidwo@hawaii.edu.
This week’s ʻŌlelo Noʻeau couldn’t be more appropriate given COVID-19 and Hurricane Douglas!
***E ala! E alu! E kuilima! Awaken! Come together! Join hands!***
Last week your campus building and facilities crew, IT team, and limahana (helping hands) from across the campus worked diligently to batten down the hatches across campus preparing for Hurricane Douglas! On Friday we were ready, as the adage goes, “Preparing for the worst, hoping for the best!” On Saturday we watched as the cone of uncertainty suggested the hurricane would glance-off Oʻahu’s northwestern shores on it’s way north toward Kauaʻi. On Sunday, soon after 11 a.m., the sirens began to blow and by 11:30 a.m. the UH System closed the campuses on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi. Our UH West Oʻahu team members double-checked preparations and began to set-up deployment of our building and facilities, IT, and other essential services for recovery needs. And, like our neighbors, many team members were ensuring that their own homes and extended ʻohana were prepared! In the end, Hurricane Douglas reminded us of the power of mother nature as well as its unpredictability! We all sighed a collective breath of relief!
So, what are the lessons learned? In light of the fact that we are all experiencing some degree of “emergency fatigue” (exhaustion from having to hold the COVID-19 burden), it was important and much appreciated when compassion, patience, and calm minds and hands prevailed! Mahalo nūnui to Bonnie Arakawa and Carlton Ho and their building and facilities team! Mahalo to John Murakami and his emergency prep team along with our 24/7 security team led by Gary Rivers! Mahalo to Therese Nakadomari and the entire IT team for their support to power down, to ensure security of our systems through the hurricane impact. Mahalo to Leila Shimokawa and the communications team for staying tuned-in and preparing just-in-time emergency messages that were sent out in a timely manner. Mahalo nui kākou to our summer instructors, our student affairs support team, and everyone who assisted over the last four days! Mahalo for coming together, E ala! E alu! E kuilima!
QUICK OVERVIEW on Campus Reopening Preparation
Please see our new Pueo Safety Promise.
Information regarding reopening: The UH West Oʻahu Chancellor and Campus Leads were interviewed on Friday, July 24. We discussed how UH West Oʻahu has been impacted by COVID-19 and how we are preparing to reopen. Topics included: class delivery, preparation of facilities, new rules for employees and students on-campus, student support, instructional support, and many other important topics. You can watch the interview here. A summary of the interview is forthcoming and will soon be sent to all employees and students.
Pilot of Health App: Over the next two weeks, a group of faculty, staff, and students will be piloting the use of the UH System Health App and Web Survey. Every day before coming to campus they will fill out this simple app from their cell phone or survey via our website. The information is sent to a central database at UH System IT, which stores each campus’s data in a secure digital folder (at UH System IT). Access is limited to the co-leads of our UH West Oʻahu COVID Response team who will check the data daily. More on this tool and when it goes live will be presented in future bulletins.
Reminder regarding face covering: From the City & County of Honolulu Second Amendment to Ho’oulu Honolulu 4.0 (July 14, 2020), and Third Amendment to same (July 22, 2020).
- Face coverings: The Second Amendment revised the facial covering requirement to add, “All individuals within the City shall wear face coverings while indoors in public spaces, including, but not limited to enclosed common areas of commercial and residential buildings.”
- If you recall, the First Amendment had already added the requirement that all individuals within the City “wear face coverings while outdoors in public spaces when maintaining a physical distance of six (6) feet from persons who are not members of the same household or residence is not feasible.”
- Otherwise, the face coverings mandate remains unchanged, including with respect to the exceptions to the face covering requirement.