As coronavirus cases rise and restrictions are being tightened, Lt. Gov. Green is calling for a “shorter, tighter, stronger” lockdown.
Even after officials recently tightened restrictions on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Lt. Gov. Josh Green said that he believes not enough is being done.
The state of Hawaii has experienced three weeks of triple-digit increases in cases of COVID-19, and despite new mandates, the lieutenant governor said there needs to be a larger shutdown.
Green told Hawaii News Now that it would be very difficult to stop the spread of coronavirus “without a total lockdown for four weeks.”
“The measures that were put in place are really still large loopholes you can drive a truck through,” he said.
Earlier in August, the city of Honolulu closed down its beaches, parks and hiking trails on the island of Oahu. Shortly after, the city expanded its mask mandates, restricted groups to no more than five people in businesses, and they even went as far as restricting people from having large gatherings in their own homes.
Yet Green said that these rules are not enough. And despite the certain heavy blow to small businesses, he called for a “shorter, tighter, stronger” lockdown.
“Right now, it’s going to be too difficult for small businesses to function,” he claimed. “We’re seeing, increasingly, [the] numbers of employees that they have get sick.”
In contrast to the lieutenant governor, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell and Gov. David Ige have been resistant to a large economic shutdown.
Although the spread of the coronavirus should be dealt with seriously, it seems that Green is willing to jeopardize small businesses and the families that many of them support in pursuit of that goal. He is calling for more mandates that intrude on the freedoms of American citizens.