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4 new COVID-19 deaths in Honolulu as Hawaii sees 306 new cases on 1st day of Oahu lockdown

JAMM AQUINO / AUG. 26
                                Traffic piles up at the entrance to Kaneohe District Park during the first day of COVID-19 surge testing in Kaneohe. Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell on Tuesday announced a plan to hire hundreds of additional contact tracers and to conduct surge testing over the next two weeks in response to the triple-digit increases in new daily coronavirus cases, most of them on Oahu.

JAMM AQUINO / AUG. 26

Traffic piles up at the entrance to Kaneohe District Park during the first day of COVID-19 surge testing in Kaneohe. Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell on Tuesday announced a plan to hire hundreds of additional contact tracers and to conduct surge testing over the next two weeks in response to the triple-digit increases in new daily coronavirus cases, most of them on Oahu.

On the first day of Oahu’s 14-day lockdown order, state Department of Health officials reported four new COVID-19 deaths and 306 new coronavirus cases, bringing the statewide totals since the beginning of the pandemic in February to 7,566 cases and 55 fatalities.

Today’s latest COVID-19 deaths were Oahu residents with underlying health conditions, including two women in the 70- to 79-year-old age group, and another man and woman who were both over 80 years old, health officials said this afternoon.

A total of 47 Hawaii deaths have been on Oahu, seven on Maui, while one was a Kauai resident who died on the mainland. The U.S. death toll is over 180,000 today.

The surge of infections on Oahu prompted Gov. David Ige and Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell to implement a “stay at home, work from from” lockdown order for two weeks that began this morning.

>> RELATED: Oahu lockdown order in place following a bit of drama

“Case investigators continue to see COVID-19 clusters involving parties or gatherings in private homes (e.g., birthday parties, funerals, get-togethers, religious gatherings etc.). These gatherings have no masking and no distancing and mostly involve families and friends,” according to an email from the state Department of Health.

Health officials today reported 289 new cases today on Oahu, 10 new cases on Hawaii island and seven new cases in Maui County. Of today’s new cases, 277 are adults and 29 are minors.

The highest number of cases since March have been among 18 to 29 year olds at 23% and 30 to 39 year olds at 21%, with Pacific Islanders making up the highest percentage of cases at 30%, health officials said.

Today’s total coronavirus cases by county since the start of the outbreak included 6,915 on Oahu, 253 in Hawaii County, 56 in Kauai County and 318 in Maui County. The total statewide counts also include 24 Hawaii residents who were diagnosed out of state.

Hawaii’s long run of triple-digit increases in daily new cases has led the federal government to join with state and Honolulu leaders to start “surge testing” on Oahu, with plans to administer 5,000 people each day over the next 12 days. For more information or to make a test reservation: doIneedacovid19test.com.

As of today, 5,140 infections are considered active cases statewide, with a total of 2,371 patients now classified by health officials as “released from isolation,” or nearly 31% of those infected. The category counts those infected people who have met the criteria for being released from isolation. Eighty-three new release cases — 74 on Oahu, seven on Hawaii island and one each in Kauai and Maui Counties — were reported today.

Officials counted 2,478 new tests in today’s tally, with today’s 306 positive cases representing 12% of the total tested. Of the 188,153 coronavirus tests conducted so far by state and clinical laboratories in Hawaii since the start of the outbreak, a total of 4% have been positive.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii cases, 462 have required hospitalizations, with 18 new hospitalizations — 17 on Oahu and one in Maui County — reported today, health officials said.

Lt. Gov. Josh Green said today there are now 286 confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients in Hawaii hospitals, with 56 of them in intensive care units and 39 on ventilators.

Two hospitalizations in the statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 460 hospitalizations within the state, 407 have been on Oahu, 41 on Maui, 11 on Hawaii island, and one on Kauai.

By county, Honolulu has seen 1,984 patients released from isolation, and Maui has had 176 patients released. Hawaii County has 96 active infections, while Kauai has one, 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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