Local Vlogger Details His Family’s Experience With COVID-19

For three years the YouTube channel “Hello from Hawaii” has been providing talk-story type videos about life in Hawai‘i from the viewpoint of one local family.

The video blogs include discussions about contemporary issues big and small such as the realities of buying a home, what aloha shirts locals wear as opposed to tourists, and a look at race and discrimination in the Aloha State. But when the entire family, including the pregnant wife and 2-year-old child, all caught COVID-19 the talk became very serious.

Sitting side-by-side on their living room sofa, the couple speaks directly into the camera as if talking to a neighbor that happened to drop by for a visit. Chris, who doesn’t want his last name used to protect his family’s privacy, does most of the talking while his wife, Ayano, nods her head and softly hums in agreement with his comments about their experience with COVID symptoms, treatment, and recovery.

Posting this video on their channel might reach some people who otherwise are not aware of the COVID situation in Hawai‘i, Chris said. Ten days after testing positive and going into isolation, they still had some lingering symptoms.

“We’re doing OK. We are still recovering. You can still catch COVID and I hope everyone is being safe out there. We don’t want to scare people, but (want them) to be cautious,” said Chris, a research analyst. “Hearing our personal experience makes it more real.”

“We think (we) are back to normal, but not really,” Ayano adds.

During their second video blog on COVID, the couple walks through their experience day-by day from first noticing sore throats, coughing, and loss of taste, including details of how their son was affected. Because both adults are vaccinated, Chris said the severity of virus may have been reduced.

“I think we recovered from the majority of the symptoms within a week to 10 days. Most of the symptoms are gone, except for a little cough,” Chris said.

By sharing their story publicly with their 22,600 subscribers, Chris hopes to remind viewers that Hawai‘i is still in a pandemic and everyone should take precautions.

“There’s a fine line between informing people and scaring people. I don’t want to create content that stirs up fear or panic. Instead, I’d like to continue to encourage people to be safe and be aware of what is going on,” he said.

“Sharing of our experience doesn’t have to be political or polarizing. We’re just sharing what’s happened to us and how we got through it. And this long-form video format allows us to do that unlike an Instagram post or Tweet. By the end of the videos, I hope people feel like they just sat through a nice talk story session. No political agenda. No debate about the mandates and vaccines. Just talking story.”

This family’s story is not unusual as Hawai‘i is now averaging 1,098 new cases of COVID-19 every day. The true number of cases in the community is much higher as tests taken at home do not appear in the official data.

The CDC considers O‘ahu and Maui to have high levels of COVID-19. Hawai‘i Island, Moloka‘i and Lanai are experiencing increasing case counts. Kaua‘i has been moved to medium level.

Ryan Ozawa, a Native Hawaiian journalist and technologist, describes Chris as a “personal vlogger,” or “day-in-the-life vlogger,” who specifically shares both the everyday mundane things as well as the unique things about their lives.

“It feeds our natural curiosity about others, and hopefully generates empathy for people in different walks of life,” Ozawa said. “Chris has an audience that likes him and follows him, and thus trusts him because of that honesty and earnestness. He’s not claiming to be an expert and hopefully not making recommendations or declarations, he’s just showing how he and his family are coping, and hopefully prompting others to think.”

Ozawa said this type of vlogger can be very effective in sharing a message because all it takes is one story to get a strong reaction from his viewers.

“Public health officials are armed with all the facts, figures, trends and tools, but what’s often needed to spur people to action comes down to the messenger, not the message,” Ozawa said. “Thanks to social media, and people like Chris, the audience can hear from someone they already know and like and respect. They can hear the experiences of someone that looks like them, or thinks like them, or lives a life they identify with or aspire to.”

Chris agrees that different communications methods are necessary to reach a wider audience.

“It’s hard to say what is more effective, but I do think hearing personal experiences of others helps,” Chris said. “Because the reporting frequency of COVID cases has changed from daily to weekly, we don’t see the numbers as much on the news. Some people may see that as meaning that the COVID situation isn’t as important as it used to be when the numbers were reported daily and so they may feel like prevention measures aren’t necessary. But I do think the messages from health care officials are still important, no matter their effectiveness.”

Chris said he is grateful for all those that helped his family get through this illness.

“I feel like acknowledging their efforts is important,” Chris said. “It seems like the only time people speak up is when there’s a complaint or criticism. I try to also speak up when I recognize good efforts being made too, such as good customer service by an employee. They like and should hear that too.”

COVID-19 vaccination and testing options are available at hawaiicovid19.com.