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Hawaii records another coronavirus-related death and 230 new cases

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                Ken Edward and Haley Mansanar sort through COVID-19 testing kits at Kakaako Waterfront Park on Sunday. Premier Medical Group Hawaii has scheduled another drive-thru testing event this Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the park. <a href="https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/08/20/breaking-news/drive-thru-covid-19-testing-available-at-three-oahu-locations-this-weekend/" target="_blank">Testing will also be available on Oahu this weekend</a> in the Ewa and Wahiawa.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Ken Edward and Haley Mansanar sort through COVID-19 testing kits at Kakaako Waterfront Park on Sunday. Premier Medical Group Hawaii has scheduled another drive-thru testing event this Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the park. Testing will also be available on Oahu this weekend in the Ewa and Wahiawa.

Hawaii Department of Health officials reported a new coronavirus-related on Oahu death today and 230 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide totals to 46 fatalities and 6,072 infections since the pandemic first reached the islands in late February.

No immediate information was released on the latest fatality, the sixth reported this week. A total of 38 deaths have been on Oahu and seven on Maui, while one was a Kauai resident who died on the mainland. The U.S. death toll is over 175,000 today.

Today’s new COVID-19 cases include 209 on Oahu, 13 on Hawaii island, six in Maui County and two on Kauai, according to the state Department of Health’s noon tally.

The statewide coronavirus case totals by county include 5,547 on Oahu, 269 on Maui County, 177 on Hawaii island, and 56 in Kauai County, according to health officials. The total also includes 23 Hawaii residents diagnosed outside of the state.

As a result of “updated information,” health officials said two Honolulu cases were removed from the overall tally today.

As of today, 3,954 infections in Hawaii are considered active cases, with a total of 2,072 patients now classified by health officials as “released from isolation,” or about 34% of those infected. The category counts those infected people who have met the criteria for being released from isolation. Forty-one new release cases — 39 on Oahu and two on the Big Island — were reported today.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii cases, 337 have required hospitalizations, with 20 new hospitalizations —16 on Oahu and four on Maui — reported today, health officials said.

Lt. Gov. Josh Green said today that there are 227 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19, including 44 patients in intensive care units and 23 on ventilators. He said 49% of the state’s 244 ICU beds and 14% of the 459 ventilators are now in use, by both coronavirus and non-virus patients.

Two hospitalizations in the statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 335 hospitalizations within the state, 292 have been on Oahu, 35 on Maui, seven on Hawaii island, and one on Kauai.

Officials counted 2,366 new tests in today’s tally, with today’s 230 positive cases representing 9.7% of the total tested. Of the 173,550 coronavirus tests conducted so far by state and clinical laboratories in Hawaii since the start of the outbreak, a total of 3.5% have been positive.

By county, Honolulu has seen 1,720 patients released from isolation, and Maui has had 166 patients released. Hawaii County has 41 active infections, while Kauai has five, according to Health Department figures.

Hawaii’s daily new-case count hit triple digits for the first time in late July, and has remained there for most of August, with the vast majority of confirmed infections on Oahu. On Aug. 13, the state’s daily new-case count reached a record 355.

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