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4 coronavirus-related deaths and 264 new COVID-19 infections in Hawaii; 2nd Hawaii inmate dies from COVID-19 at Arizona prison

GOOGLE MAPS
                                A Google map screenshot of the Saguaro Correctional Center in Arizona.

GOOGLE MAPS

A Google map screenshot of the Saguaro Correctional Center in Arizona.

UPDATE: 3 p.m.

Hawaii Department of Health officials said in a news release today that the four deaths were Oahu residents who had been hospitalized with COVID-19 and had underlying health conditions.

They included a woman in her 50s, another woman in her 60s, a man in his 70s and another man in his 80s.

Separately, the Department of Public Safety this afternoon reported the coronavirus-related death of a male Saguaro Correctional Center inmate, who was over 65 years old. This is the second death of a Hawaii inmate in Arizona classified by medical examiners as coronavirus-related, according to state health officials. No further information was immediately available.

According to the latest information from the Hawaii COVID-19 data dashboard, a total of 129 patients with the virus were in Hawaii hospitals as of 8:30 a.m. today, with 24 in intensive care units and 20 on ventilators.

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Hawaii health officials today reported four new coronavirus-related deaths and 264 infections, bringing the state’s totals since the start of the pandemic to 303 fatalities and 22,895 cases. Hawaii on Thursday recorded a new record high of 322 confirmed cases statewide in the new year.

No further details were immediately available regarding the four latest deaths on Oahu.

The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 237 fatalities on Oahu, 45 on Hawaii island, 18 on Maui, one on Kauai, and two Hawaii residents who died on the mainland. The Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency said today that the Big Island’s COVID-19 death toll remained at 51, but state officials have not verified coronavirus as a factor in six of those fatalities.

The U.S. coronavirus death toll was above 367,000 today with total coronavirus cases across the nation now topping 21.7 million.

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Today’s new statewide infection cases reported by the Health Department include 202 on Oahu, 22 on Maui, 10 on the Big Island, three on Kauai, two on Molokai, and 25 state residents diagnosed outside of Hawaii, officials said. As a result of updated information, one Maui case was recategorized to Oahu.

The statistics released today reflect the new infection cases reported to the department on Wednesday.

The total number of coronavirus cases by island since the start of the outbreak are 18,913 on Oahu, 1,974 in Hawaii County, 1,197 on Maui, 157 on Kauai, 106 on Lanai and 25 on Molokai. There are also 523 Hawaii residents diagnosed outside of the state.

Hawaii health officials said today that of the state’s total infection count, 1,950 cases were considered to be active. Health officials say they consider infections reported in the past 14 days to be a “proxy number for active cases.” The number of active cases in the state increased by 119 today.

By island, Oahu has 1,468 active cases, Maui has 342, the Big Island has 119, and Kauai has 18, and Molokai has three, according to the state’s latest tally. Lanai has no active COVID cases.

Health officials counted 6,634 new COVID-19 test results in today’s tally, for a 3.98% statewide positivity rate. The state’s 7-day average positivity rate is 3.4%.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 1,531 have required hospitalizations, with 10 new hospitalizations reported today by state health officials.

Three hospitalizations in the statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 1,528 hospitalizations within the state, 1,348 have been on Oahu, 89 on the Big Island, 78 on Maui, seven on Kauai, five on Lanai and one on Molokai.

According to the latest information from the department’s Hawaii COVID-19 data dashboard, a total of 121 patients with the virus were in Hawaii hospitals as of 8:30 a.m. Thursday, with 24 in intensive care units and 24 on ventilators.

State health officials announced Thursday that they have started posting the total number of vaccinations administered statewide. As of Saturday, the department said 25,470 individuals have been vaccinated — including 17,991 in Honolulu County, 3,013 in Maui County, 2,526 in Hawaii County, and 1,940 in Kauai County.

Oahu moved to the less-restrictive Tier 2 of Honolulu’s four-tier economic recovery plan on Oct. 22. To gauge whether Honolulu will move to a different tier, the city takes a “weekly assessment” of two key COVID-19 numbers each Wednesday. To move to Tier 3 from Tier 2, the 7-day average of new cases must be below 50 on two consecutive Wednesdays. Also, the 7-day average positivity rate must be below 2.5% on those two Wednesdays.

Today’s seven-day average case count for Oahu is 114 and the seven-day average positivity rate is 4.4%, according to Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi who said Thursday Oahu will remain at Tier 2.


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


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