It’s a grim reminder of COVID-19’s ongoing presence and severity: Six more Hawaii people have just died from the disease, after two consecutive weeks of no COVID fatalities. They were all kupuna, with one man in his 60s, the others women above age 70. Unfortunately, cases here continue rising, with a daily average of 186 cases this week, up from last week’s 175, and the average positivity rate up to 17.9%, from the previous week’s 16.7%.

Remember: Take precautions — vaccinating, masking, distancing, hand-washing — especially if elderly, or being around the elderly.