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1 new coronavirus case on Oahu, but 1 removed from Maui, bringing Hawaii’s total to 653

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                Brian Mendoza and Leon Barber load food items into cars during the Show Aloha Challenge food distribution at the Aloha Stadium parking lot on Tuesday 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

Brian Mendoza and Leon Barber load food items into cars during the Show Aloha Challenge food distribution at the Aloha Stadium parking lot on Tuesday 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 remained the same as Tuesday’s count of 653.

Officials reported one new case of a visitor who traveled to Oahu and became ill while in self-quarantine. However, they also removed one Maui case from the statewide total as a result of “updated testing information.”

As of today, 24 infections in Hawaii are active cases with a total of 612 patients now classified by health officials as “released from isolation” since the start of the outbreak. Three new release cases on Oahu were reported today, according to health officials. The category counts those infected people who have met the criteria for being released from isolation.

More than 94% of the Hawaii people who have been infected are now classified as released from isolation.

By county, Honolulu has seen 401 patients released from isolation, and Maui has had 111 patients 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 423 on Oahu, 119 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 50,638 coronavirus tests conducted so far by state and clinical laboratories in Hawaii, just 651 (1.3%) have been positive. Health officials counted 1,130 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, as food demands in the state increase as unemployment insurance complaints continue.

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