A Report on the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Health and Social Welfare in the City and County of Honolulu, Hawai'i

Abstract

To address the impact of COVID-19 in the state of Hawai'i, the Hawai'i Emergency Management Agency Medical Public Health Branch activated its' Community Care Outreach Unit (CCO Unit). A team from this unit developed a survey to assess the impact, needs, and threats to the health and social welfare of individuals and their families as they pertain to COVID-19. This article presents key findings for the City and County of Honolulu (CCH). A total of 5598 CCH residents responded. Approximately half of these respondents reported they or their household members experienced reduced work hours or lost their job as a result of COVID-19. In all questions related to paying for essential living costs, at the time of the survey, the percentage of participants who expected to have future problems nearly doubled. Those preparing for school in the fall school semester expected challenges centered on insufficient funds to purchase school supplies, lack of available face-coverings, and language barriers. Financial assistance, rental assistance, and food assistance seemed to be more difficult to apply for compared to health care services. The most common reasons for difficulty with applications noted by residents included that they could not figure out how to complete the form, did not have all the documents, or could not get through on the telephone. About one-half of CCH participants reported feeling nervous more than half of the days or nearly every day in the past 2 weeks. Most perceived the severity of COVID-19 to be moderate to very high. Less than half reported knowing how to provide care for someone in their family with COVID-19. Half of the CCH participants reported that they practice social distancing usually or all of the time, and the majority reported wearing a face-covering usually or always when outside of the home. A significant portion of respondents reported barriers for providing care for a household member exposed or infected with COVID-19. Such barriers included a lack of space in their home for isolation; not having enough cleaning supplies; no working thermometer in the home, or no family member available to care for them. The results presented may provide a baseline for understanding the impact, needs, and threats to the health and social welfare of individuals and their families in CCH and across the state of Hawai'i. Local stakeholders can utilize this information in developing priorities, strategies, and programs to address the pandemic as it continues to unfold and learn lessons for future pandemics.