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One new coronavirus case on Oahu brings Hawaii’s statewide total to 653

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                Volunteers with the Show Aloha Challenge distributes free food in the Aloha Stadium parking lot this morning. Hawaii’s closure of tourism to fight the spread of COVID-19 has flattened the state’s economy, leaving tens of thousands of residents in need of food assistance.

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Volunteers with the Show Aloha Challenge distributes free food in the Aloha Stadium parking lot this morning. Hawaii’s closure of tourism to fight the spread of COVID-19 has flattened the state’s economy, leaving tens of thousands of residents in need of food assistance.

Hawaii Department of Health officials said today that the state’s tally of coronavirus cases has risen to 653, up one new case from Monday.

Today’s new case is as Oahu adult with no symptoms, according to health officials, who added that the case is still under investigation.

As of today, 27 infections in Hawaii are active cases with a total of 609 patients now classified by health officials as “released from isolation” since the start of the outbreak. One new release case on Maui was reported in 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 398 patients released from isolation (or 94%), and Maui has had 111 patients (92.5%) released. The Big Island has no active infection cases, nor does Kauai, which has not had a new confirmed case in seven 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 422 on Oahu, 120 in Maui County, 81 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 49,508 coronavirus tests conducted so far by state and clinical laboratories in Hawaii, just 1.3% have been positive. Health officials counted 587 new test results in today’s tally.

While the state boasts a COVID-19 infection rate that is among the lowest in the nation, it has come at the expense of Hawaii’s tourism-dependent economy, leading some University of Hawaii economists to project that 25,000 or more Hawaii residents will leave the state by 2022 to seek work on the mainland.

>> RELATED STORY: Gov. David Ige to lift 14-day interisland travel quarantine on June 16

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