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Hawaii sees 3 new coronavirus cases as total climbs to 649

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                Chef Chai Chaowasaree, in back, and workers Cole Freund, left, and Joakim Soderqvisthad make changes Thursday to the Chef Chai restaurant layout to accommodate social-distancing rules as they prepare for the Kapiolani Boulevard restaurant’s reopening on June 5. As Hawaii’s COVID-19 infection rate remains low, more businesses are being allowed to reopen.

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM

Chef Chai Chaowasaree, in back, and workers Cole Freund, left, and Joakim Soderqvisthad make changes Thursday to the Chef Chai restaurant layout to accommodate social-distancing rules as they prepare for the Kapiolani Boulevard restaurant’s reopening on June 5. As Hawaii’s COVID-19 infection rate remains low, more businesses are being allowed to reopen.

Hawaii Department of Health officials said today that the state’s tally of coronavirus cases has risen to 649, up three new cases from Thursday.

Health officials, however, also removed one case from the total count “as a result of updated testing information.”

All three of today’s new cases were on Oahu, as was the one case that was removed from the statewide count. Two of the new Oahu cases are adults and one is a minor, officials said.

As of today, 27 infections in Hawaii are active cases with a total of 605 patients now classified by health officials as “released from isolation” since the start of the outbreak. One new release case on Maui was added to today’s count. The category counts those infected people who have met the criteria for being released from isolation.

More than 93% of the Hawaii people who have been infected are now classified as released from isolation.

By county, Honolulu has seen 397 patients released from isolation (or 95%), and Maui has had 107 cases (90%) released.

The Big Island has no active infection cases, nor does Kauai, which has not had a new confirmed case in more than six weeks.

The state’s coronavirus death toll remains unchanged at 17. Eleven of the deaths have been on Oahu and six on Maui.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii cases since the start of the outbreak, 83 have required hospitalizations, with no new hospitalizations reported today, health officials said.

One hospitalization in the statewide count is a Hawaii resident who was diagnosed and treated outside the state, officials said. Of the 82 hospitalizations in the state, 58 have been on Oahu, 22 on Maui, and one each on the Big Island and Kauai.

Today’s statewide coronavirus cases total includes 419 on Oahu, 118 in Maui County, 82 on Hawaii island, and 20 in Kauai County, according to health officials. The total also includes 10 Hawaii residents diagnosed outside of the state.

Of the more than 47,421 coronavirus tests conducted so far by state and clinical laboratories in Hawaii, about 1.4% have been positive. Health officials counted 933 new test results in today’s tally.

So far in May, Hawaii has seen a total of 42 new confirmed cases and has had seven days with no increase in new cases.

State and county leaders continue to loosen some coronavirus restrictions, including allowing the re-opening of hair salons and barbershops today on Oahu, but the 14-day quarantine on air travelers remains, and Hawaii is seeing an unprecedented drop in tax revenues coupled with record unemployment.

RELATED STORY: Will it be a flood or a trickle when Hawaii restaurants reopen?

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