Hawai‘i COVID-19 Daily News Digest July 7, 2020

Office of the Governor:

At a news briefing, Gov. David Ige said the 41 new COVID-19 cases reported by DOH Tuesday is still manageable. It is the highest case count since the pandemic began earlier this year. Gov. Ige said, “It is the highest we’ve had, and it is concerning. However, as we re-opened our economy, we expected this. We are tracking this very closely and it is manageable right now. We have the ability to test people we need to test, and DOH has significantly increased the number of people available to trace the contacts of positive cases.” Gov. Ige also said he is “in daily discussions with DOH, the county mayors, and other leaders. As we have done in the past, we will continue to make decisions based on the best available science and facts. We have not made any decisions yet and will let you know as soon as any changes are necessary.”

Department of Health:

41 New Cases of COVID-19 Reported

Forty-one (41) new cases of COVID-19 were reported by DOH Tuesday. Thirty-eight (38) of those cases are in Honolulu, one (1) on Hawai‘i Island, and two (2) on Kaua‘i.

Hawai‘i COVID-19 Counts as of 12:00 noon, July 7, 2020

Island of Diagnosis	New Cases	Reported since 2/28/2020 (including new cases)	Total Released from Isolation*
O‘ahu	38	788	559
Hawai‘i	1	95	87
Maui	0	126	114
Kaua‘i	2	42	35
Moloka‘i	0	2	2
Lana‘i	0	0	0
Residents Diagnosed outside HI	0	18
Unknown	0	0
Total	41	1,071
Total released from isolation			797
Deaths	0	19

* Includes cases that meet isolation release criteria.

Laboratory* Testing Data

There were 1,423 additional COVID-19 tests reported via electronic laboratory reporting.

Total Number of Individuals Tested by Clinical and State Laboratories	Positive	Negative
87,096**	1,069	86,012

*Electronic Laboratory Reporting **15 test results were inconclusive

HawaiiCOVID19.com

For more tables, charts and visualizations visit the DOH Disease Outbreak Control Division: https://health.hawaii.gov/coronavirusdisease2019/what-you-should-know/current-situation-in-hawaii/

State Health Officials Say Spike in Cases Could Continue

DOH officials are reminding everyone that we could continue to see a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases as levels of activity increase within the state. DOH Director Dr. Bruce Anderson said, “Now more than ever it is critically important for everyone to wear a cloth face mask whenever outside of their home. Many of the clusters we have been investigating are associated with situations where a mask has not been worn or physical distancing was not exercised. These are new infections that are not associated with known cases and investigations … We have an opportunity now to turn around these numbers before opening travel and safely resuming school and work. Let’s take this opportunity to all wear masks and do our part to prevent COVID-19.” Meanwhile, State Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park said, “This latest report shows COVID-19 is widely circulating in our community. The numbers today will likely continue, at least at this level, if people continue to disregard using their masks and physical distancing. While we have an increased number of staff at DOH and are in the process of hiring newly trained contact tracers, the community must adhere to safe practices – as no amount of contact tracing and testing will combat a respiratory pathogen alone.”

DOH Continues to Monitor Clusters

DOH is continuing to monitor several clusters, including one associated with Hawaiian Airlines which now involves 15 cases; 13 staff and two close contacts of those employees. Yesterday it was announced nine cases were associated with a gym in Honolulu that had poor ventilation and insufficient physical distancing. Other clusters include seven cases at a food distribution company, four cases involving a hardware distributor, and a cluster of 17 cases on Kaua‘i. Community outreach and testing activities continue.

Hawai‘i Tourism Authority:

2,637 Passengers Arrive on Monday

Yesterday a total of 2,637 people arrived in Hawai‘i including 616 visitors and 839 returning residents. There was a total of 23 arriving flights. During the same time last year, approximately 35,000 people arrived in Hawai‘i daily. This table shows the number of people who arrived by air from out of state yesterday but does not show interisland travel.

AIRPORT ARRIVALS FOR MONDAY, JULY 6, 2020

	KONA	MAUI	O‘AHU	LĪHUʻE	TOTAL
Crew	8	25	262	6	295
Transit		1	157		158
Military		1	364		365
Exempt			228		228
Relocate to Hawai‘i	8	12	116		136
Returning Resident	33	82	724		839
Visitor	32	37	547	8	616
GRAND TOTAL	81	158	2,398	14	2,637
Flights	3	3	17	2	23

https://www.hawaiitourismauthority.org/media/4850/070720-passenger-count-press-release.pdf

Hawai‘i State Senate

Senate Staff Members Tested for COVID-19

In a memorandum sent to employees at the State Capitol, Senate President Ron Kouchi said all individuals working in the Senate office in which a staff member had tested positive over the weekend have tested negative for COVID-19. He reminded everyone to follow social distance requirements, wear masks at the Capitol, properly wash your hands, and sanitize all equipment and frequent touch spots.

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PDF: COVID-19 Daily News Digests July 7, 2020