A man from New York City was arrested in Hawaii for violating the state's quarantine orders after he posted photos of himself on a beach on Instagram.
Hawaii is currently discouraging any tourists from entering the state until the least the end of June, but those who do so before then must undergo a 14-day quarantine before moving about the state and acknowledge the terms of this requirement by signing a document that outlines both the rules and punishments for violating them. However, the 23-year-old man, Tarique Peters, arrived on O'ahu on May 15 and soon posted photos of himself on the beach on his Instagram account. Furthermore, Peters used public transportation to get to many of the places he visited, further increasing the risk caused by his violation of the quarantine.
Authorities were alerted by other people who saw his posts showing him out and about in Waikiki. A local man who was with Peters at the time of his arrest was also arrested and charged. Peters is currently in jail with a $4,000 bail.
According to the New York Post, Peters' mom said: "He had no business going there... I told him not to go." The Hawaii attorney general's office thanked citizens for continuing the report violations.
Lead image by NASA, public domain.
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Are you volunteering one of your children to be the .5? Don't volunteer mine.
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I live in Honolulu. As someone whose wife is pregnant with our child, there’s nothing more important to me than keeping them safe. Even though I think the actual mortality rate is more than 0.5%, that’s not something that comforts me in any way.
I’m all for opening up the local economy because we seem to have a pretty good handle on community spreading with 0-3 new cases a day, but our airports are not yet equipped to handle the screening of ever visitor, which at this point is the biggest concern. There’s more risk in visitors spreading the virus then our community.
Please don’t visit Hawai’i. A 14 day quarantine isn’t something I expect anyone to obey, so don’t come here pretending you will. It’s the biggest thing preventing us to take the first steps in opening up our local economy and getting people back to their jobs to feed their families.
The US is nearing in on 100'000 deaths because of this. It's also too early to tell exactly what the death rate is, or the long term effects of this. Come on, man.
Hey guys I heard there was a new virus out there..... The only way to stay safe is to give up your rights as a citizen and hand over your guns.
Typical fear tactics to scare people into giving up their God-given rights. If this dude wants a lawyer I say we go after the state of HI and the national government for infringing on his bill of rights. The government can't restrict us from living in a free state.
God doesn't give you rights-at least none that are meaningful in the realm of human interaction. The government of the country you live in does.
OMG, the level of insanity people in North America are facing in their comunities is unparalleled... you call the irrational urge to arm yourself your ‘God given right’? Never been so glad I wasn’t born in an area of the world where this is common...
I guess I have a "god given right" to swing my arms around! Sure hope your nose doesn't get in the way!
BTW..."god" never said you had a "right" to own a gun.
Russian troll. Fake account to keep stirring up the low IQ types... No one intelligent thinks like this "person" claims to. Typical fake account too. Go back to your borscht Ivan.
The real problem is the tattle-tale who snitches on others. If someone wants to keep themselves extra safe, then have at it. Just mind your own business and respect others who prefer freedom over health and safety. Don't force your priorities to be my priorities.
Yeah, that's not how diseases work. This isn't like your personal heroin problem, which I couldn't care less about. Something like a pathogen that can spread is a concern for the entire community. Just like your right to swing your fist stops at my face, your right deliberately subject yourself to and live with a disease stops at the point that you are putting others at risk of unknowingly or unwillingly catching it.
Yes, there's an argument to be made as to where we draw the line. I think we can agree that these types of measures would certainly make sense if this was a smallpox epidemic. We can also probably agree that these types of measures don't make sense for the common flu. Where the threshold lies in between those two extremes is a call that the government has to make based on weighing the health risks against the economic and social costs.
I imagine that we probably did overreact to this particular situation in retrospect, but governments around the world had to make a call quickly based on the limited information that they had available. The information at the time suggested a highly contagious disease with a significant mortality rate (and yes, even 1% mortality among infected people is a significant rate for a highly contagious disease as it could potentially mean millions of deaths). This isn't like a hurricane in Florida where it happens regularly enough that everyone just knows how to deal with it by this point. As it stands, things are opening up at a conservative pace (which I think is smart since there's still a lot we don't know). How about we all just follow the laid out plan for now and then do the analyzing when the danger is past?
The real problem is all the idiots who think the virus will not affect them. The virus spreads because someone wants to travel and not take precautions afterwards and can be a carrier. You may not have the symptoms, but you have no right to go about and then infect someone who you may kill. I suppose you are one of the idiots who thinks wearing a mask in a public place some how violates your constitutional rights also. Unless you can prove everyday that you do not have the virus, you do not have the right to take away someone else's life.
No, I cannot prove that I do not have the virus. In fact, as a first responder, I work with confirmed infected people in the course of my job, so I think that the odds that I have the virus living in me are probably rather high. You don't need to call me, or anyone else, and idiot. I'm one of the people on the front lines dealing with this, so I am in a position to know a hell of a lot more about it that you are, unless you are also a first responder who does covid-related work.
Tom, then act like you know better. You're either saving lives, or you're killing others, try not to do both intentionally.
I'm a "front-line" health care worker as well, with well over 30 years of experience in pulmonary and cardiovascular critical care, and you are indeed an idiot.
You don't have the "freedom" to infect others with a potentially life threatening illness.
It's funny...people like you have no problem with "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service", but ask you "freedumb loving, rugged individualists" to wear a mask and use social distancing, and you start crying like petulant little babies.
With your attitude, I suspect you're nothing more than a frustrated ambulance driver who shouldn't be dispensing advice to others.
I never said that I have a right to infect others.
Others have a choice - they can expose themselves as much, or as little, as they want to. Each of us should have the choice to determine how much risk we are willing to take - for ourselves. If someone wants to take very little or no risk, then it is up to them to keep themselves distanced. That way, each person is affected only by their own values and priorities, and does not have other's priorities and values imposed upon them.
Also, I do kind of have a problem with, "no shoes, no shirt, no service" ..... at least for entities that are not privately owned. What makes you think I don't?
Yes, you DO think you have the "right" to infect others and that it's everyone else's responsibility to avoid you.
"No, I cannot prove that I do not have the virus."
Yet, you feel you have the "right" to go around, possibly spreading a lethal pathogen, because that's your "values and priorities" and if someone has the "values and priorities" to stay healthy and alive, well, that's just too bad. Maybe you should wear a bright pink tutu so people would know you possibly have the virus and don't care if you infect others. That way, people who do need to go out, can avoid you.
You sound like one of those ignorant libertarians. "Freedom for me, but not for thee"
There's are reasons why there are no modern, industrialized, successful countries that have a libertarian government.
No, I never said that. People keep putting words in my mouth, so to speak. I said exactly what I said - those exact words - no more, no less. Why do people take what I say and then say that I said something more, or different, than what my actual words were. Fools.
So you're saying that it is your right to go to work "on the front lines" everyday with or without the proper protection? You get to determine the "threat level" for the people you are in contact with?
When you evoke your "me me me" mentality, you're the virus that we will be left with. Go live it up....
Small question though. Where do you work? You know so that my "Ohana" can make their own decision.
No, I never said that. People keep putting words in my mouth, so to speak. I said exactly what I said - those exact words - no more, no less. Why do people take what I say and then say that I said something more, or different, than what my actual words were. Fools.
Brad, it seems to be entirely photography related to me. It is all about photos that were posted to Instagram. The whole story is about photos being posted, and the actions that ensued because of those photos. If it weren't for photography, this never would have happened, and there would be no story.
Are we supposed to feel sorry for this guy?
"Hawaii is currently discouraging any tourists from entering the state until the least the end of June, but those who do so before then must undergo a 14-day quarantine before moving about the state and acknowledge the terms of this requirement by signing a document that outlines both the rules and punishments for violating them. However, the 23-year-old man, Tarique Peters, arrived on O'ahu on May 15 and soon posted photos of himself on the beach on his Instagram account. Furthermore, Peters used public transportation to get to many of the places he visited, further increasing the risk caused by his violation of the quarantine."
This moron violated the requirements that he agreed to, and then stupidly posted pictures proving that he was doing so! Obviously, not a lot of thinking was going on in his apparently empty head. They should throw the book at him, make sure he's not infected, and then put him on the next plane out of there.
We absolutely should not feel sorry for him. Since he's volunteered himself on social media to be held up as a shining example of how stupid people can be when left to make their own decisions, I have zero problem with him being used this way, what a fool he is.