Second day of record COVID-19 cases in Hawai‘i
HONOLULU – After a record number of new coronavirus cases on Thursday, today the Hawai‘i Dept. of Health (DOH) is reporting another single-day record of 60 new COVID-19 infections. The majority of the cases, like yesterday, are on the island of O‘ahu (58), with one case on Maui, and the other one is a Hawai‘i resident diagnosed out of state. State Health Director Bruce Anderson said, “We’re concerned that this relatively high level of cases is persisting on O‘ahu. Some of the cases we’re reporting today are associated with existing clusters, known cases and household spread, but others are [...]
Hawai‘i COVID-19 Daily News Digest July 23, 2020
Department of Health: Highest Single-Day COVID-19 Case Count Since the Beginning of the Pandemic Death Toll Rises to 26 50 cases in Honolulu, three (3) on Hawai‘i Island, and two (2) on Maui comprise today’s COVID-19 case count of 55 new positive cases. This is the highest number of cases reported on a single day since the Dept. of Health (DOH) began tracking cases in late February. The previous highest one-day count was on July 11, with 42 cases. Health Director Dr. Bruce Anderson said, “These cases represent people from all walks of life and varied professions, indicating the [...]
Contact tracers: Behind-the-scenes heroes of the pandemic
Contact tracing was new to many of us in the beginning stages of the pandemic. Now, contact tracing has become a part of our everyday vocabulary. The Hawaii Department of Health’s team of contact tracers helps keep the spread of COVID-19 under control. The health department currently has 51 contact tracers who are actively working on investigations, identifying contacts to cases, and following up and monitoring those contacts. If necessary, the Department of Health can rapidly ramp up and expand its contact tracing team. It has an additional 128 people in the Disease Outbreak Control Division and Public Health Nursing [...]
Highest one-day COVID-19 count since beginning of coronavirus pandemic
HONOLULU – 50 cases in Honolulu, three (3) on Hawai‘i Island, and two (2) on Maui comprise today’s COVID-19 case count of 55 new positive cases. This is the highest number of cases reported on a single day, since the Dept. of Health (DOH) began tracking cases in late February. The previous highest one-day count was on July 11, with 42 cases. Health Director Dr. Bruce Anderson said, “These cases represent people from all walks of life and varied professions, indicating the apparent challenges of maintaining safe practices is widespread across the state.” Anderson also extended condolences to the [...]
Hawai‘i COVID-19 Daily News Digest July 22, 2020
Office of the Governor: With Storm Approaching Governor Ige & HI-EMA Issue Hurricane Safety Reminders Gov. David Ige was joined by Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency Administrator Luke Meyers on Tuesday for a Facebook live to talk about hurricane preparedness amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Meyers pointed out that hurricane season runs from June 1 – Nov. 30 in the central pacific, and HI-EMA has been tracking a number of storms so far this year. While the peak for hurricanes usually occurs in late summer, Meyers said, “It only takes one storm to impact the islands, so we have to keep [...]
Second challenge to mandatory traveler quarantine denied
HONOLULU – U.S. District Court Judge Jill A. Otake denied a motion today, for a preliminary injunction, from a South Carolina traveler who challenged the State of Hawai‘i’s current mandatory traveler quarantine. In a 25-page long ruling, Judge Otake pointed out that, “Like many states across the nation and countries around the world, Hawai‘i has issued a series of Emergency Proclamations to limit the spread of COVID–19, a novel severe acute respiratory illness with no known cure, no effective treatment, and no vaccine…Further complicating efforts to contain COVID-19 is the fact that individuals who are infected but asymptomatic . [...]
Hawai‘i COVID-19 Daily News Digest July 21, 2020
Department of Health: 25 New Cases of COVID-19 21 new coronavirus cases on O‘ahu and four (4) on Maui are being investigated by DOH. 21 of the cases are adults and four (4) are pediatric. Two (2) of the cases on Maui are associated with a history of out-of-state travel. DOH is also investigating small clusters of cases associated with out-of-state workers, who were exempt from mandatory quarantine as critical infrastructure workers. There has been no spread beyond this cluster, as all involved workers were not interacting with the broader community as part of the exemption and are now [...]
Hawai‘i COVID-19 Daily News Digest July 20, 2020
Office of the Governor: Reopening of Hawai‘i Public Schools Moves Forward Gov. Ige was joined at an afternoon news briefing by DOE Superintendent Dr. Christina Kishimoto, Board of Education (BOE) Chairperson Catherine Payne, and State Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park to confirm the reopening of schools on Tuesday, August 4. Teachers return on Wednesday, July 29. The governor cited the state’s decision to push back the restart of trans-Pacific travel to Sept. 1, as one motivation to continuing with DOE’s reopening date. “We do not want to open schools and welcome more visitors simultaneously. A phased approach will help ensure [...]
State Moves Forward with Reopening of Public Schools on Aug. 4 Governor and DOH support HIDOE’s “Return to Learn” plan as part of phased approach for Hawaii’s recovery
HONOLULU - During a joint news conference this afternoon, Governor David Ige, Hawai‘i State Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park, Board of Education (BOE) Chairperson Catherine Payne, and Hawai‘i State Department of Education (HIDOE) Superintendent Dr. Christina Kishimoto confirmed the state’s plans to move ahead with school reopening for students on Tuesday, Aug. 4. Teachers return on Wednesday, July 29. Ige cited the state’s decision to push back the pre-travel testing program to Sept. 1 as one of the reasons to move forward with HIDOE’s reopening date, stating, “We do not want to reopen our schools and receive more travelers simultaneously. [...]
Quarantine Chronicles
Two Travelers Detail Successful Mandatory Quarantine HONOLULU – The day after Gov. David Ige extended the mandatory 14-day travel quarantine until Sept. 1, 2020, two people who recently completed their quarantines describe in detail their experiences. Both Cari Pang Chen and Kevin Barnard are from California, and while it is not required yet, both and Barnard’s brother, got COVID-19 tests before flying from the mainland to Hawai‘i. Pang Chen spent quarantine in a hotel with her 12-year-old middle-schooler. The family elected to have Cari’s husband and son stay home, to better accommodate their own work and school schedules. She [...]