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Hawaii sees 36 new coronavirus cases, bringing statewide total to 37,011

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / MAY 18
                                Most people wore their masks while waiting for the Bus along S. Hotel Street last month.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / MAY 18

Most people wore their masks while waiting for the Bus along S. Hotel Street last month.

Hawaii Department of Health officials reported 36 new confirmed and probable coronavirus infections today, bringing the state’s total since the start of the pandemic to 37,011 cases.

No new virus-related fatalities were reported today so the statewide COVID-19 death toll remains 506.

The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 392 fatalities on Oahu, 55 on Maui, 54 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 599,700 and the nationwide infection tally is more than 33.4 million.

Today’s new confirmed and probable infection count by island includes 16 new cases on Oahu, 12 on Maui, two on Hawaii island and six Hawaii residents diagnosed outside the state.

State health officials began including probable infections in its total case counts last month. 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.

The total number of confirmed and probable coronavirus cases by island since the start of the outbreak are 27,469 on Oahu, 4,594 on Maui, 3,138 in Hawaii County, 328 on Kauai, 115 on Lanai and 79 on Molokai. There are also 1,288 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 816 on Maui, 760 on Oahu, 66 on Hawaii island, 24 on Molokai, three on Kauai, three on Lanai and 51 residents diagnosed outside the state.

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

>> RELATED: Kokua Line: What percentage of state and county workers are vaccinated against COVID-19?

Health officials also said today that, of the state’s total infection count, 695 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 state’s total number of active cases decreased by 93 today.

By island, Oahu has 345 active cases, the Big Island has 188, Maui has 151 and Kauai has 11.

Health officials counted 5,685 new COVID-19 test results in today’s tally, for a 0.63% statewide positivity rate. The state’s 7-day average positivity rate is 0.9%, according to the Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard.

The latest Hawaii COVID-19 vaccine summary said that 1,592,739 vaccine doses have been administered through state and federal distribution programs as of Thursday. Health officials say that more than 54% of the state’s population is now fully vaccinated.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 2,381 have required hospitalizations, with no new hospitalizations reported today.

Ten hospitalizations in the overall statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 2,371 hospitalizations within the state, 1,962 have been on Oahu, 266 on Maui, 128 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 30 patients with the virus were in Hawaii hospitals as of Thursday, with 12 in intensive care units and six on ventilators.

Oahu on Friday moved into the less-restrictive Tier 4 of the city’s four-tier economic recovery plan. The change allows social gatherings of up to 25 people at outdoor venues, including at parks and beaches, but the group size for indoor social gatherings remains at 10 people.

The seven-day average case count for Oahu is 23 and the seven-day average positivity rate is 1.0%, state health officials said today.


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


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