Hawaii sees no new coronavirus cases for 2nd straight day
BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Shoppers wearing masks wait in line to get into the Ross Dress for Less Store on South King Street Sunday, which reopened following weeks of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With Hawaii’s low coronavirus infection rate, more businesses are reopening, but the state’s workforce and economy is still reeling from the shutdown of tourism.
For the second straight day, Hawaii health officials today reported no new coronavirus cases in the islands as the statewide infection count remains at 643.
Today was the sixth day in May that Hawaii had no confirmed new cases of COVID-19 in the state Department of Health’s daily tally. The daily statewide new case count has never been over four in May.
So far in May, the state has reported a total of 35 new confirmed cases, with Kauai having none in more than six weeks. Oahu has not had a new case in five days.
As of today, 34 infections in Hawaii are active cases with a total of 592 patients now classified by health officials as “released from isolation” since the start of the outbreak. One new release case on the Big Island was reported today. The category counts those infected people who have met the criteria for being released from isolation.
More than 92% of the Hawaii people who have been infected are now classified as released from isolation.
By county, Honolulu has seen 389 patients released from isolation (or 94%), Maui has had 105 cases (89%) released, and the Big Island has 79 (97%). Kauai has no known active confirmed coronavirus cases.
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 Oahu hospitalization case was removed from the total today “as a result of updated information,” Health Department officials said.
One hospitalization in the statewide count is a Hawaii resident who was diagnosed and treated outside the state, officials said. Of the 83 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 414 on Oahu, 118 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 44,523 coronavirus tests conducted so far by state and clinical laboratories in Hawaii, about 1.4% have been positive. Health officials counted 1,000 new test results in today’s tally.
The Health Department’s daily count of new infections in Hawaii has not been in double digits since April 18 when officials reported 22 new cases.
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