Updated 12/21/20, 3:49 p.m.
Governor David Ige has released his proposed state budget for lawmakers to consider in the 2021 legislative session. Ige says the two year spending plan reflects the difficult decisions forced on the state by the COVID-19 pandemic. The extent of the state s projected revenue loss means that permanent and ongoing changes must be made to the way state government operates, Ige said during a Monday press conference. Regrettably, we are unable to shield our employees and priority programs from reduction. In addition, we will continue to evaluate those that are necessary to bring out
The proposed budget includes cuts to all departments, including the K-12 public education system and the University of Hawaii.
HAWAII VIRUS TRACKER - Dec. 21: 134 New COVID-19 Cases - Honolulu Civil Beat
Hawaii received its first shipment of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
The new cases included 104 on Oahu, 13 on the Big Island, 14 on Maui, one on Kauai and two Hawaii residents diagnosed out of state.
Hawaii received its first shipment of 12,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine Monday, according to Brooks Baehr, a spokesman for the health department. Maui, Hawaii and Kauai counties will receive 2,000 doses each, and Oahu will receive 6,000.
Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said that the new cases recorded Monday on Oahu included 55 inmates and eight staff at the Halawa Correctional Facility, in addition to the 93 cases reported at the facility on Sunday.
HONOLULU (AP) A coronavirus outbreak at Hawaii’s largest prison continues to multiply.
The state Department of Public Safety said Saturday that an additional 55 inmates and eight employees have tested positive for the coronavirus at the Halawa Correctional Facility. The total number of active cases in the prison now encompasses 325 inmates and 43 staffers, KITV-TV reported.
The Department of Public Safety had announced a lockdown and other measures to try to control the outbreak, which initially infected three inmates and 10 staffers last week.
The outbreak at Halawa is the third major correctional facility in the state to face coronavirus issues since the pandemic began. The Oahu Community Correctional Center has had 450 inmates test positive for COVID-19, and the Waiawa Community Correctional Center in Waipahu has reported 213 cases among inmates.
Police officers at St Pancras, with more being deployed to enforce travel rules at London s stations, after Britian s Prime Minister Boris Johnson introduced Tier 4 restrictions for London and the south east of the country, in London, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020. Millions of people in England have learned they must cancel their Christmas get-togethers and holiday shopping trips. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Saturday that holiday gatherings can’t go ahead and non-essential shops must close in London and much of southern England. Johnson imposed a new, higher level of coronavirus restrictions to curb sharply spreading infections in the capital and other areas. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)
9 & 10 News
December 20, 2020
WASHINGTON President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for U.S. surgeon general says it’s more realistic to think it may be mid-summer or early fall before coronavirus vaccines are available to the general population in the United States, rather than late spring.
Speaking on Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Vivek Murthy said Biden’s team is working toward having coronavirus vaccines available to lower-risk individuals by late spring but doing so requires “everything to go exactly on schedule.”
“I think it’s more realistic to assume that it may be closer to mid-summer or early fall when this vaccine makes its way to the general population,” Murthy said. “So, we want to be optimistic, but we want to be cautious as well.”