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Hawaii records 13 new coronavirus-related deaths, 455 additional infections in partial count

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                Swimmers and beachgoers enjoyed the Magic Island Lagoon, February 19, at Ala Moana Beach Park.

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM

Swimmers and beachgoers enjoyed the Magic Island Lagoon, February 19, at Ala Moana Beach Park.

Hawaii Department of Health officials today reported 13 new coronavirus-related deaths and 455 new confirmed and probable infections statewide, bringing the state’s totals since the start of the pandemic to 602 fatalities and 63,957 cases.

The latest deaths included nine Oahu residents and four Maui residents, state health officials said in an email.

One Oahu woman was in her 70s and eight Oahu men ranging between the ages of 30 and over 80 years old, all had underlying health conditions. Eight of the Oahu residents all died in the hospital except for one Oahu man who died in a care facility, state health officials said.

On Maui, one woman over the age of 80 died at home with underlying health conditions while three other men between the ages of 50 and 79 years old with underlying health conditions died in the hospital, state health officials said.

The 455 new COVID-19 cases reported today comprise of a partial count due to an electronic laboratory reporting system interruption on Monday, according to Brooks Baehr, administrative assistant at the Health Department’s COVID-19 and Pandemic Response.

“The Department of Health anticipates cases not yet reported will be included in case counts over the next 24 to 48 hours,” Baehr said.

The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 464 fatalities on Oahu, 71 on Maui, 59 on Hawaii island, three on Kauai, one on Molokai and four Hawaii residents who died outside the state.

The U.S. coronavirus-related death toll today is over 640,000 and the nationwide infection tally is more than 39.3 million.

Today’s new confirmed and probable infection count by island includes 291 new cases on Oahu, 51 on Maui, 64 on Hawaii island, 37 on Kauai, three on Molokai, one on Lanai, and eight Hawaii residents diagnosed outside the state.

State health officials have been including probable infections in its total case counts. 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 45,055 on Oahu, 7,426 on Maui, 7,698 in Hawaii County, 1,327 on Kauai, 132 on Lanai and 162 on Molokai. There are also 2,157 Hawaii residents who were diagnosed outside of the state.

Health officials also said today that, of the state’s total infection count, 10,911 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 today by 134.

By island, Oahu has 7,402 active cases, the Big Island has 1,860, Maui has 1,171, Kauai has 432, Lanai has 12 and Molokai has 34.

Health officials counted 5,580 new COVID-19 test results in today’s tally, for an 8.15%% statewide positivity rate. The state’s 7-day average positivity rate is 7.9%, according to the Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard.

The latest Hawaii COVID-19 vaccine summary says 1,869,996 vaccine doses have been administered through state and federal distribution programs as of Tuesday, up 3,766 from a day earlier. Health officials say that 63.4% of the state’s population is now fully vaccinated, and 71.6% have received at least one dose.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 3,576 have required hospitalizations, with 70 new hospitalizations reported today.

Seventeen hospitalizations in the overall statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 3,559 hospitalizations within the state, 2,895 have been on Oahu, 408 on Maui, 226 on the Big Island, 23 on Kauai, five on Lanai and two on Molokai.

According to the latest information from the department’s Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard, a total of 438 patients with the virus were in Hawaii hospitals as of today, with 96 in intensive care units and 77 on ventilators.

The seven-day average case count for Oahu is 612 and the seven-day average positivity rate is 8.8%, state health officials said today.


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


Correction: An earlier version of this story reported state health data that indicated the latest deaths included three Maui residents and one Hawaii resident diagnosed outside the state. However, an email from state health officials reported four deaths on Maui.
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