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Hawaii health officials report 80 new coronavirus infections statewide

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / SEPT. 12
                                Paddle boats lay vacant on the sands of the Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort on Saturday.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / SEPT. 12

Paddle boats lay vacant on the sands of the Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort on Saturday.

Hawaii Department of Health officials today reported 80 new infections statewide, bringing the state’s totals since the beginning of the pandemic to 10,779 COVID-19 cases.

No new deaths were reported today, leaving the official statewide death toll at 99. A total of 86 deaths have been on Oahu, nine on Maui, three on the Big Island, while one was a Kauai resident who died on the mainland, according to state health officials.

State health officials, however, have yet to count the latest reported coronavirus-related deaths on Hawaii island at the Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home, where 10 residents died following an outbreak there. Health officials have told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the Hilo fatalities are pending verification of the cause. Meanwhile, Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency has reported 12 coronavirus-related deaths to date on the Big Island, all but one connected to the veterans home.

The U.S. death toll was more than 194,000 today.

Hawaii’s new cases today included 71 on Oahu, seven on the Big Island and two in Maui County. As a result of updated information, one case from Honolulu was removed from the counts and another Honolulu case was re-categorized to Maui, officials said.

As of today 6,987 infections are considered active cases statewide, with a total of 3,693 patients now classified by health officials as “released from isolation,” or about 33% of those infected. The category counts those infected people who have met the criteria for being released from isolation. Officials reported 128 new release cases today.

Today’s total coronavirus cases by county since the start of the outbreak are 9,723 on Oahu, 594 in Hawaii County, 378 in Maui County, and 58 in Kauai County. There are also 26 Hawaii residents diagnosed outside of the state.

Officials counted 2,376 new tests in today’s tally, with today’s 80 positive cases representing 3.4% of the total tested. Of the 261,907 coronavirus tests conducted so far by state and clinical laboratories in Hawaii since the start of the outbreak, a total of 4.1% have been positive.

On today’s “Spotlight Hawaii,” the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Facebook Live show, Gov. David Ige said he expects to again delay the reopening of Hawaii tourism beyond the planned Oct. 1 start date. He said he plans to announce a new schedule for reopening the state’s top industry in the next few days.

>> RELATED: Struggle of North Shore’s largest employers reaches deep into tourism-dependent community

Of all the confirmed Hawaii cases, 636 have required hospitalizations, with two new hospitalizations on Oahu reported today, health officials said.

Two hospitalizations in the statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 636 hospitalizations in the state, 564 have been on Oahu, 47 on Maui, 24 on Hawaii island, and one on Kauai.

By county, Honolulu has seen 3,080 patients released from isolation, Hawaii County has had 320 releases, Maui has seen 236 patients released. Kauai has no active cases as of today, according to the Health Department.

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