Department of Health Steps Up Outreach to Pacific Islanders
Contact Tracer Lead Investigator Chantelle "Tellie" "Matagi and her team of 10 contact tracers and monitoring specialists conduct in-person educational outreach events for Pacific Islander communities. Different approaches to public health outreach and education are used to reach Hawai‘i’s diverse ethnic populations and large number of immigrants for whom English is a second language. The Hawai‘i Department of Health’s Disease Outbreak Control Division is ready to engage and collaborate with the communities. Recognizing the need, Disease Investigations Branch Chief Emily Roberson recently commissioned a contact tracing team dedicated to outreach to Pacific Islanders. Chantelle “Tellie” Matagi started as [...]
Hawai‘i COVID-19 Daily News Digest November 16, 2020
Governor’s Office: 11 New Trusted Testing Partners for Trans-Pacific Travel, Two for Inter-County On Saturday, the Office of Gov. David Ige announced 13 additional trusted travel and testing partners for the state’s pre-travel testing program. COVID-19 test results from these newly identified partners will be accepted beginning tomorrow. The new partners – eleven for domestic transpacific travel and two for inter-county travel – join 18 and 11 partners respectively, that had been previously approved by the State of Hawai‘i for testing, which allows arriving travelers to bypass the mandatory 14-day quarantine with evidence of a negative test from [...]
Hawai‘i Department of Health shares new weekly data on COVID-19 clusters under investigation
HONOLULU - The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) is releasing weekly COVID-19 cluster reports to illustrate COVID-19 trends across the state. The DOH will also adjust its practices for collecting and reporting daily COVID-19 data. The Weekly COVID-19 Cluster Report highlights recent incidents in which the virus occurred at one time, in the same geographic location, or among people with the same or similar shared exposures. For example, this week’s report includes information on clusters related to college students attending parties, a cluster connected to a group of co-workers who ate lunch together, and a cluster at an O‘ahu school. [...]
Hawai‘i COVID-19 Daily News Digest November 4, 2020
Office of the Lieutenant Governor: Safe Travels Testing Evaluation Program Update Known as a strategic surveillance study, the Safe Travels Testing Evaluation Program, collects and evaluates data from COVID-19 testing of travelers after they’ve arrived in Hawai‘i. Lt. Gov. Josh Green said, “We are at a critical point in the pandemic, where we need to balance public health and safety with the economic well-being of our islands. We anticipate this study will serve as a guide for state leadership and policy makers on how to move forward.” This surveillance study is an added layer of safety to compliment [...]
Hawai‘i COVID-19 Daily News Digest November 2, 2020
Office of the Governor: Additional Trusted Testing Partners Sought for Domestic Travel Governor Ige announced today that the state is seeking additional “trusted testing partners” for domestic transpacific travel as part of the state’s pre-travel testing program. Governor Ige also revealed the two requirements and at least one of the six criteria needed to become a trusted testing partner. Requirement One – Ability to provide testing, collection, and processing of specimens at CLIA licensed or certified laboratories. Requirement Two – Ability to provide travelers test results on the Hawai‘i COVID-19 Test Result Form. The six criteria (at least [...]
Hawai‘i COVID-19 Daily News Digest October 26, 2020
Governor’s Office: Governor Signs Stay-At-Home Order for Lāna‘i As Lāna‘i continues to see a spike in COVID-19 cases, the island is being put under a stay-at-home order starting Tuesday to mitigate the spread of the virus. The order was signed by Gov. David Ige this morning. It goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Maui Mayor Michael Victorino said, “With the rapidly rising positive COVID-19 case count, this is an important step to limit the spread of the virus and protect the health and safety of this vulnerable community on Lāna‘i ... For now, we recommend that residents and [...]
Hawai‘i COVID-19 Daily News Digest October 22, 2020
Governor’s Office: State, City Leaders Responding to COVID-19 Cases on Lāna‘i In a news briefing today, Gov. David Ige addressed the recent COVID-19 cases on Lāna‘i. Gov. Ige said, “We are working with Maui County Mayor Mike Victorino, Sen. English and Rep. DeCoite to aggressively respond. Department of Health (DOH) is sending a testing team today and there will be community testing on Saturday ... We are going to continue working with everyone to identify, isolate, and treat those who are infected.” He added that Department of Human Services (DHS) and Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) helped to secure [...]
Hawai‘i COVID-19 Daily News Digest October 20, 2020
Governor’s Office: Pivot Grant Program Launching to Help Small Businesses During Pandemic Help is on the way for thousands of small Hawai‘i businesses. At a news briefing today, Gov. David Ige announced that the State of Hawai‘i is partnering with the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii to launch the Hawai‘i Business Pivot Grant program. The program will provide approximately 2,500 small businesses and non-profits with grants up to $10,000 to reimburse them for expenses incurred while making changes to their business models since the pandemic’s arrival in March 2020. The program’s objective is to help small to mid-size businesses [...]
How to have a safe and fun Halloween during the pandemic
This Halloween, the Hawai‘i Department of Health recommends celebrating with your household members at home and avoiding traditional door-to-door trick or treating where treats are handed to children or children take candy from a shared bucket. These are high-risk activities as they can result in close contact and crowding among people outside your household. Encourage safe Halloween activities by sharing these infographics with friends and family. View lower, moderate, and higher risk Halloween activities recommended by the CDC.
Should I get a pulse oximeter for early COVID-19 detection? Q&A with Dr. Brent Tatsuno
Q&A with Dr. Brent Tatsuno, Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at The Queen’s Medical Center A pulse oximeter is a digital device that measures the percentage of oxygen in your blood. Dr. Tatsuno shares about the phenomenon of “silent hypoxemia” that occurs when COVID-19 patients feel fine but have low oxygen saturation. COVID-19 doesn’t always cause obvious breathing problems even when people are heading toward respiratory failure. Honolulu resident Wilma Ogimi recently shared her early detection success story in using a small device – after she received a false negative test result for the virus. The retired medical [...]