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Hawaii reports 3 additional coronavirus-related deaths, and 102 new cases statewide

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                Travelers at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport keep their smartphones out with a QR code as they wait in line to be screened after arriving in Honolulu on trans-Pacific flights on Oct. 15, the first day of the state’s pre-travel COVID-19 testing program that allows arriving travelers to bypass the 14-day quarantine with a recent negative COVID-19 test result.

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM

Travelers at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport keep their smartphones out with a QR code as they wait in line to be screened after arriving in Honolulu on trans-Pacific flights on Oct. 15, the first day of the state’s pre-travel COVID-19 testing program that allows arriving travelers to bypass the 14-day quarantine with a recent negative COVID-19 test result.

UPDATE: 3:35 p.m.

State health officials said this afternoon that the three additional coronavirus-related fatalities announced earlier today were all men, between ages 70 and 79 years old, who were hospitalized on Oahu and had underlying conditions.

The Health Department also said Lanai’s first COVID-19 cluster has grown by 16 cases to 20 confirmed cases.

The new cases involve two coworkers who attended a social gathering, while the others are possible household and social contacts, according to the department.

One case had a history of travel to Oahu, but there is no clear tie to the other cases, officials said.

Health officials are conducting community outreach, testing, and contact tracing on the island,

PREVIOUS COVERAGE

Hawaii health officials reported three new coronavirus-related deaths on Oahu and 102 new infections statewide today, bringing the totals since the start of the pandemic to 206 deaths and 14,335 cases.

No further details about the latest fatalities were immediately released.

The Health Department’s official state death toll includes 159 fatalities on Oahu, 28 on Hawaii island, 18 on Maui, and one Kauai resident who died on the mainland.

On Wednesday, the department announced 14 new fatalities, including 10 fatalities of residents of Hawaii island nursing homes that had previously been reported by the Hilo Medical Center and Hawaii County. The other four deaths reported Wednesday were Oahu residents.

Hilo County officials have said that the Big Island’s COVID-19 death toll is now at 40, however state health officials now have yet to verify coronavirus as a factor in 12 of those Big Island deaths.

The U.S. coronavirus death toll is over 222,000 today.

As of today, 2,897 infections are considered active cases statewide, with a total of 11,232 patients now classified by health officials as “released from isolation,” or 78% of those infected, according to the state’s official count. The category counts those infected people who have met the criteria for being released from isolation. Officials reported 44 new releases today.

Today’s new infection cases include 52 on Oahu, 29 on Hawaii island, 18 in Maui County and three residents diagnosed outside the state.

Health Department officials said they counted 4,139 tests in today’s count for a 2.5% statewide positivity rate.

Today’s total coronavirus cases by county since the start of the outbreak are 12,669 on Oahu, 1,120 in Hawaii County, 435 in Maui County and 60 in Kauai County. There are also 51 Hawaii residents diagnosed outside of the state.

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By county, Honolulu has seen 9,980 patients released from isolation, Hawaii County has had 817 releases, Maui has seen 377 patients released. Kauai has one active case.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii cases, 1,045 have required hospitalizations, with 12 new hospitalizations reported today by state health officials.

Two hospitalizations in the statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 1,043 hospitalizations within the state, 923 have been on Oahu, 60 on the Big Island, 59 on Maui, and one on Kauai.

According to the latest data from the Health Department, a total of 75 patients with COVID-19 are in Hawaii hospitals, with 18 in intensive care units and 13 on ventilators.

Oahu moved to the less-restrictive Tier 2 of Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s four-tier economic recovery plan today, and must stay in that tier for four weeks. To move to Tier 3, Oahu must maintain a seven-day average case count of 49 or fewer cases, and a seven-day average positivity rate of 2.49% or lower for 14 consecutive days at the end of the four-week period. Today’s seven-day average case count is 61 and the positivity rate is 2.7%.


This breaking news story will be updated as more information becomes available.


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