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Hawaii News

Hawaii gets 1 new virus case; 667 visitors fly into the state

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                State and local leaders and medical professionals urge the public to continue following safety guidelines to keep Hawaii’s COVID-19 infection rate low. Greg and Yasuko Murata wore face masks Sunday as they took their dog, Hime, out for his regular walk for exercise along the promenade at Kakaako Waterfront Park.
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BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM

State and local leaders and medical professionals urge the public to continue following safety guidelines to keep Hawaii’s COVID-19 infection rate low. Greg and Yasuko Murata wore face masks Sunday as they took their dog, Hime, out for his regular walk for exercise along the promenade at Kakaako Waterfront Park.

State Department of Health officials said Monday that the state’s tally of coronavirus cases has risen to 676, up one from Sunday. The lone infection case is on Oahu.

While the number of cases remained in single digits, 1,891 passengers flew to Hawaii on Sunday with 667 of them visitors, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority on Monday. At the same time last year, nearly 30,000 passengers arrived in Hawaii daily, including residents and visitors.

As of Monday, 41 infections in Hawaii are active cases, with 618 patients now classified by health officials as “released from isolation” since the start of the outbreak in February. One new release case on Oahu was reported Monday. The category counts those infected people who have met the criteria for being released from isolation.

About 92% of the Hawaii people who have been infected are now classified as released from isolation.

By county, Honolulu has seen 404 patients released from isolation, and Maui has had 113 patients released. Both Kauai and the Big Island have no active infection cases.

The state’s coronavirus death toll remains unchanged at 17. Eleven of the deaths have been on Oahu, and six on Maui.

Monday’s statewide coronavirus cases total includes 442 on Oahu, 120 in Maui County, 81 on Hawaii island, and 21 in Kauai County, according to health officials. The total also includes 12 Hawaii residents diagnosed outside of the state.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii cases since the start of the outbreak, 84 have required hospitalizations, with no new hospitalizations reported Monday, 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 83 hospitalizations in the state, 59 have been on Oahu, 22 on Maui and one each on the Big Island and Kauai.

Of the more than 55,474 coronavirus tests conducted so far by state and clinical laboratories in Hawaii, about 1.2% have been positive. Health officials counted 327 new test results in today’s tally.

The number of visitors has been slowly trending upward even though the state has a 14-day travel quarantine to fight the spread of COVID-19. On Sunday the 20 flights that arrived brought in 563 returning residents, 94 people moving to Hawaii, 123 passengers who were exempt from the quarantine after receiving prior approval from the state, 158 military exempt personnel, 108 in transit to other destinations and not leaving the airport, and 178 crew members.

Most of the 667 visitors, or 566, flew to Oahu. Of the 566, 378 said they were flying to Hawaii to visit friends and family, 42 listed vacation as the purpose of their visit and another 42 said it was due to business, 37 said it was for both vacation and visiting friends and family, 13 said they were relocating to Hawaii, nine listed visiting friends and family as well as business, and five said they were visiting friends and family and relocating to Hawaii. There were 40 who left their answers blank.

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