Two years ago this week, Hawaiʻi became the last state to drop its mask mandate related to COVID-19.
Now the state Department of Health is making some adjustments to its advice about preventing the spread of the virus. The shift aligns with the latest guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The new approach is to treat COVID like the flu or any other respiratory virus.
“Basically the advice is stay home. Once you get sick, stay home until you havenʻt had a fever for 24 hours and your symptoms are getting better. And then you can do things for five days after that to try to prevent you from spreading symptoms to other people. So you can wear a mask around around other people. You can try to do things outdoors — things like that," said Caroline Pratt, the chief of the DOH Disease Investigations Branch.
The department recommends people get the COVID-19 vaccine that came out in September 2023.
Pratt said only about 12% of Hawaiʻiʻs population has received the latest vaccine.
"Even though, you know, mortality and hospitalization rates are a lot better, people who are at risk for severe disease are still at risk. So, you know, the kūpuna, people who have other severe medical problems or are immunocompromised, they're definitely still at risk," Pratt said.
This story aired on The Conversation on March 28, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
