Kamehameha Schools campuses on Hawaii island and Maui island shifted to distance learning mode today as cases of COVID-19 rose statewide, including a high school student at the Keaau campus.

“We learned today that a Kamehameha Schools Hawaii high school student has tested positive for COVID-19,” the KS COVID-19 Response Team wrote in an email to the Kamehameha community late Wednesday. “The student is now in isolation and contact tracing is complete.”

“The KS COVID-19 Response Team determined that this individual did not acquire the coronavirus from a KS employee, student or facility,” it said. “In an abundance of caution, we have notified all students or staff that were in contact with this student and have asked that they quarantine and monitor any symptoms that may develop.”

The first day of school for Kamehameha’s campus on Hawaii island was Wednesday, with students starting to return to campus in staggered fashion. The Neighbor Island schools had intended to offer a hybrid of in-person and distance learning this semester but quickly shifted gears.

“Kamehameha Schools has been keenly aware of the evolving COVID-19 surge in different parts of our state, and especially those positive cases that hit closer to home affecting our own KS ohana,” M. Kahealani Naeʻole-Wong, head of school for the Hawaii campus, wrote in an announcement that the school would shift to distance learning today.

Meanwhile on Oahu where cases keep setting new daily records, Kamehameha Kapalama’s campus started instruction in full distance mode on Monday as previously planned.

This evening, the school reported that a KS Kapalama high school employee had tested positive for the virus and was in isolation. It