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UPDATE: 4 p.m.
Hawaii health officials said 10 of today’s new 15 coronavirus cases are “part of a family cluster in the same household and all the family members were previously in quarantine when someone in the family tested positive.”
Nine of the new cases are adults and six are children, they said.
They said 13 of 15 new cases on Oahu today are related to four known cases or ongoing investigations.
Three of the cases are in communities where health officials said they are “actively canvasing door-to-door to provide educational information and to offer testing.”
3:30 P.M.
Gov. David Ige held a news conference this afternoon as the state reported 15 new coronavirus cases.
Watch the live video above.
Joining him were Bruce Anderson, Department of Health director, Hilton Raethel, Healthcare Association of Hawaii CEO, and Dr. Cecilia Shikuma, John A. Burns School of Medicine professor.
Anderson said the state is currently investigating a case at one of the state’s largest nursing homes but is confident the staff member hasn’t infected other staff or patients.
Also, no transmission has been found in the cases of two long-term care facility employees who tested positive last week. Staff and residents were offered COVID-19 tests and all have come back negative as of today.
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Fifteen new coronavirus cases are being reported in Hawaii today following Memorial Day and graduation gatherings.
The spike in new coronavirus cases is alarming, Lt. Gov. Josh Green told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, adding that he is expecting another surge eight to 10 days after 10,000 protesters gathered for ‘Black Lives Matter’ marches throughout the islands over the weekend.
“We’re right now witnessing the Memorial Day spike which also coincided with graduation parties, so we have to be very careful. Ten of those cases are in one family (in Waipahu). This is the kind of thing that can happen — you get a spike and it’s a family cluster,” he said. “That’s why we’re spending a lot of extra energy proposing standards, which will require travelers from the mainland to get a test before coming to Hawaii. We will not be able to afford a large spike and have positive COVID-19 travelers to Hawaii at the same time.”
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“Ten thousand people, that could cause spread. It’s obviously an enormous challenge,” Green said. “It underscores that we’re going to have to be super careful as we open up travel from anywhere.”
Gov. David Ige is expected to approve a plan for mass testing of all travelers to Hawaii this week.
Hawaii Department of Health officials confirmed the 15 new coronavirus cases today and said the statewide total is now 706. One case was removed from the total as a result of updated testing information.
Today’s new cases are all on Oahu, as is the one that was removed from the total.
As of today, 62 infections in Hawaii are active cases with a total of 627 patients now classified by health officials as “released from isolation” since the start of the outbreak in February. Four new release cases on Oahu were reported today. The category counts those infected people who have met the criteria for being released from isolation.
About 89% of the Hawaii people who have been infected are now classified as released from isolation.
By county, Honolulu has seen 413 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.
Today’s statewide coronavirus cases total includes 472 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, 87 have required hospitalizations, with one new hospitalization on Oahu 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 86 hospitalizations in the state, 62 have been on Oahu, 22 on Maui, and one each on the Big Island and Kauai.
Of the more than 58,579 coronavirus tests conducted so far by state and clinical laboratories in Hawaii, about 1.2% have been positive. Health officials counted 809 new test results in today’s tally.
While Hawaii has seen increase in daily cases in June, the state still has one of the lowest infection rates in the nation, which has intensified calls for Gov. David Ige to reopen more of the state’s devastated economy, including tourism. However, at a news conference Wednesday, Ige extended the mandatory 14-day quarantine for trans-Pacific visitors until July 31.
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