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Hawaii sees 34 new coronavirus cases as the statewide tally climbs to 35,901

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                Arriving passengers wear masks at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on Saturday. Hawaii is the only state <a href="https://www.staradvertiser.com/2021/05/24/hawaii-news/hawaii-is-the-only-state-requiring-and-spending-millions-on-covid-19-testing/" target="_blank">still requiring testing for travelers who have been fully vaccinated</a> for COVID-19.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Arriving passengers wear masks at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on Saturday. Hawaii is the only state still requiring testing for travelers who have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19.

Hawaii Department of Health officials reported 34 new confirmed and probable coronavirus infections today, bringing the state’s total since the start of the pandemic to 35,901 cases.

No new virus-related fatalities were reported today so the statewide COVID-19 death toll remains 496.

The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 384 fatalities on Oahu, 54 on Maui, 53 on Hawaii island, two on Kauai, and three Hawaii residents who died outside the state. The U.S. coronavirus-related death toll today is over 590,000 and the nationwide infection tally is more than 33 million.

State health officials began counting probable infections Wednesday, which added more than 1,600 total infections to the state’s total case count. The probable infections include people who never received a confirmatory test but are believed to have had the virus because of their known exposure and symptoms or because of a positive antigen test.

By island today, there were 23 new infection cases on Oahu, five on Hawaii island and six on Maui.

The total number of confirmed and probable coronavirus cases by island since the start of the outbreak are 26,923 on Oahu, 4,404 on Maui, 2,853 in Hawaii County, 317 on Kauai, 115 on Lanai and 76 on Molokai. There are also 1,213 Hawaii residents who were diagnosed outside of the state.

Today’s probable infections since the start of the pandemic added to the counts today include 792 on Maui, 731 on Oahu, 63 on Hawaii island,24 on Molokai, three on Kauai, three on Lanai and 44 residents diagnosed outside the state.

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

Health officials also said today that of the state’s total infection count, 978 cases were considered to be active. 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 decreased by 17 today.

By island, Oahu has 773 active cases, Maui has 113, the Big Island has 54, Molokai has 26, Kauai has 12 and Lanai has none.

Health officials counted 3,359 new COVID-19 test results in today’s tally, for a 1.601% statewide positivity rate. The state’s 7-day average positivity rate is 1.1%, according to the Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard.

The latest Hawaii COVID-19 vaccine summary said that 1,463,440 vaccine doses have been administered through state and federal distribution programs as of today.

RELATED: Hawaii is the only state requiring and spending millions on COVID-19 testing

Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 2,285 have required hospitalizations, with one new hospitalization reported today.

Ten hospitalizations in the statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 2,275 hospitalizations within the state, 1,894 have been on Oahu, 243 on Maui, 123 on the Big Island, nine 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 37 patients with the virus were in Hawaii hospitals as of Saturday, with eight in intensive care units and four on ventilators.

Oahu moved into the less-restrictive Tier 3 of the city’s four-tier economic recovery plan on Feb. 25 after being in Tier 2 since Oct. 22. Tier 3 permits social and outdoor recreational gatherings of up to 10 people, and restaurants to seat 10 people at a table. Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi on March 11 announced modifications to Tier 3, including allowing bars to reopen under the same conditions as restaurants and extending the curfew until midnight.

Honolulu will remain in Tier 3 of the city’s COVID-19 reopening framework until at least June 3, according to the mayor’s office.

The seven-day average case count for Oahu is 46 and the seven-day average positivity rate is 1.6%, state health officials said today.


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


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