Hawaii counts 452 new coronavirus infections; active cases soar past 3,000 statewide
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / JULY 22
Mask wearing pedestrians crossed S. King Street in downtown. The state’s daily COVID-19 count continues surging, with 452 new infections reported today, according to Lt. Gov. Josh Green.
Health officials reported 452 new confirmed and probable coronavirus infections today, Hawaii’s third-highest daily count which brings the state’s total since the start of the pandemic to 42,862 cases.
No new virus-related fatalities were reported today so the statewide COVID-19 death toll remains 537.
The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 413 fatalities on Oahu, 61 on Maui, 58 on Hawaii island, two on Kauai, and three Hawaii residents who died outside the state. The U.S. coronavirus-related death toll today is more than 613,000 and the nationwide infection tally is nearly 35 million.
Today’s case count was initially reported by Lt. Gov. Josh Green in a social media post this morning.
The latest numbers come after the state reported a record 622 new infections, followed by 485 on Saturday, a combination of the highly contagious delta variant and a backlog of uncounted cases from earlier this week due to a problem with laboratory testing results.
Hawaii is in the midst of its greatest surge in coronavirus case so far this year, which has state officials stepping up the urgency of their calls for unvaccinated residents to get the shots.
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“Today my colleagues at hospitals across the state are pleading with the public to vaccinate,” Green, who is an emergency room physician on the Big Island, said in his Instagram post. “We are seeing more young adults get severely sick with COVID. On Friday 108 of the 118 cases in the hospital were unvaccinated.”
The new confirmed and probable infection count reported today includes 276 new cases on Oahu, 99 on Hawaii island, 66 on Maui, six on Kauai, and five Hawaii residents diagnosed outside of the state.
The total number of confirmed and probable coronavirus cases by island since the start of the outbreak are 30,997 on Oahu, 5,191 on Maui, 4,150 in Hawaii County, 554 on Kauai, 117 on Lanai, and 81 on Molokai. There are also 1,772 Hawaii residents who were diagnosed outside of the state.
Of the state’s total infection count, 3,298 cases were considered to be active. Less than three weeks ago that number was under 600. Officials say they consider infections reported in the past 14 days to be a “proxy number for active cases.” The state’s total number of active cases increased today by 302.
The statistics released today reflect new infection cases reported to the department on Friday.
By island, Oahu has 2,198 active cases, the Big Island has 685, Maui has 330, Kauai has 83, Lanai has two, and Molokai has none.
Health officials counted 6,937 new COVID-19 test results in today’s tally, for a statewide positivity rate of about 6.5%. The state’s 7-day average positivity rate is 5.7%, according to the Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard.
The latest Hawaii COVID-19 vaccine summary says 1,754,544 vaccine doses have been administered through state and federal distribution programs as of Thursday. Health officials say that 60.1% of the state’s population is now fully vaccinated, and 66.9% have received at least one dose.The state’s next update on vaccine doses administered will be Monday.
Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 2710 have required hospitalizations, with two new hospitalizations — one each on Maui and Hawaii island — reported today.
Fifteen hospitalizations in the overall statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 2,695 hospitalizations within the state, 2,192 have been on Oahu, 317 on Maui, 164 on the Big Island, 16 on Kauai, five on Lanai, and one on Molokai.
According to Friday’s update on the department’s Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard, a total of 117 patients with the virus were in Hawaii hospitals, with 23 in intensive care units and 12 on ventilators. The last time Hawaii had more than 100 COVID patients in the hospitals
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Hawaii counted another 452 new coronavirus infections today, according to Lt. Gov. Josh Green who pleaded with the unvaccinated in Hawaii to get their shots.
Green said in a social media post this morning that the statewide positivity rate is 5.7 percent.
Today’s new infections, according to Green, include 276 on Oahu, 99 on the Big Island, 66 in Maui County, and six on Kauai. The additional five cases presumably are Hawaii residents diagnosed out of state, although Green did not mention those cases.
“Today my colleagues at hospitals across the state are pleading with the public to vaccinate,” Green, who is an emergency room physician on the Big Island, said in his Instagram post. “We are seeing more young adults get severely sick with COVID. On Friday 108 of the 118 cases in the hospital were unvaccinated.”
Hawaii has seen it’s three highest daily counts over the last three days — 622 on Friday and 485 on Saturday — as the highly contagious delta variant surges through the islands, as it is nationwide.
According to Friday’s update on the department’s Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard, a total of 117 patients with the virus were in Hawaii hospitals, with 23 in intensive care units and 12 on ventilators. The last time Hawaii had more than 100 COVID patients in the hospitals was Jan. 29.
The latest Hawaii COVID-19 vaccine summary says 1,754,544 vaccine doses have been administered through state and federal distribution programs as of Thursday. Health officials say that 60.1% of the state’s population is now fully vaccinated, and 66.9% have received at least one dose.The state’s next update on vaccine doses administered will be Monday.
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