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BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Cyrus Tamashiro, right, monitors people going in and out of Tamashiro Market Sunday to make sure that those who enter have face masks on and to control the amount of people who go inside to maintain a required social distance within the store. Hawaii health officials reported four new COVID-19 cases today, the lowest daily increase in two months.
UPDATE, 3:45 P.M.
Gov. David Ige hsoted a news conference this afternoon to discuss Hawaii’s coronavirus cases.
Watch the video below:
Joining him are Lt. Gov. Josh Green, Department of Health director Dr. Bruce Anderson and Alan Oshima, who will talk about the state’s economic recovery efforts.
Ige said this afternoon the Payroll Protection Program will cover 11,000 Hawaii small businesses, worth a total of $2.2 billion dollars in forgivable loans. Ige said that represents 170,000 employees statewide.
Ige also announced the Hawaii Convention Center will be staffed by volunteers to process unemployment claims.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE
Hawaii Department of Health officials said today that the state’s tally of coronavirus cases has risen to 584, up four from Sunday — the lowest daily increase in over a month.
Of all the confirmed cases in Hawaii since the start of the outbreak, 55 have required hospitalizations, with three new cases reported today, health officials said.
Today’s tally of new cases is the lowest daily increase since March 18 when three new cases were recorded.
The state’s coronavirus death toll stands at 10, unchanged from Sunday. Six of the deaths have been on Oahu, while four were on Maui.
Today’s statewide total includes 385 cases on Oahu, 108 in Maui County, 64 on Hawaii island, and 21 in Kauai County, according to health officials.
There were two new cases each on the Big Island and in Maui County, health officials reported today. All four are adult Hawaii residents, and health officials said they are investigating if the cases are travel-related or due to community spread.
The statewide total also includes six Hawaii residents diagnosed outside of the state.
A total 423 patients have recovered since the start of the outbreak, with health officials reporting nine new recoveries today. More than 70% of the people who have been infected in Hawaii are now classified as recovered.
By county, Honolulu has seen 312 patients recover, Maui has had 57 recoveries, the Big Island has had 38, and Kauai has seen 16, as of noon today, the Health Department says.
Of the 55 hospitalizations in the state, 47 have been on Oahu, seven on Maui and one on Kauai.
The Hawaii Joint COVID-19 Information Center said that of the 24,543 coronavirus tests so far conducted by state and clinical laboratories in the islands, just under 2.4% have been positive.
On Sunday, health officials announced the state’s 10th COVID-19 death, a Maui man in his 40s or 50s who had a history of travel and no previous medical conditions. The man had been in serious condition during an extended stay at the Maui Memorial Medical Center, where the state is investigating a cluster of COVID-19 cases.
Earlier today, Gov. David Ige said that Hawaii’s stay-at-home order will likely be extended past April 30, but he added that the state is looking at loosening some local restrictions on specific activities.
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