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Hawaii health officials report one COVID-19 death on Oahu and 66 new coronavirus cases statewide

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                Dakota Tague, paddles at Maunalua Bay Beach after exercising for an hour around the Hawaii Kai area. Oahu’s beaches and parks reopened Sept. 10 for solo activities.
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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Dakota Tague, paddles at Maunalua Bay Beach after exercising for an hour around the Hawaii Kai area. Oahu’s beaches and parks reopened Sept. 10 for solo activities.

UPDATE 3:30 p.m.

State health officials said the latest death was an Oahu man in his 60s with underlying health conditions.

Lt. Gov. Josh Green, who tested positive for coronavirus, said today that there are now 222 confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients in Hawaii hospitals, with 60 of them in intensive care units and 48 on ventilators. He said that 159, or 65%, of the state’s 244 ICU beds, and 91, or 20%, of Hawaii’s 459 ventilators are in use, by both coronavirus and non-virus patients.

Two deputy sheriffs in Green’s office also tested positive for the virus, while the results came back as negative for 11 other employees, according to state health officials. Green and two deputy sheriffs will remain in quarantine until health investigators give them the all clear.

Meanwhile, two more COVID-19 cases were reported today at Oahu Community Correctional Center. There are now 13 inmates with active infections, while 289 inmates have recovered since the start of the outbreak.

Officials counted 44,751 surge tests in today’s tally, with a total of 266 positive test results representing less than 1% of the total tested.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE

Hawaii Department of Health officials today reported one new coronavirus-related death and 66 new infections statewide, bringing the state’s totals since the beginning of the pandemic to 100 fatalities and 10,844 COVID-19 cases.

No further information was provided about the latest death on Oahu. A total of 87 other deaths have been on Oahu, nine on Maui, three on the Big Island, while one was a Kauai resident who died on the mainland, according to state health officials.

State health officials, however, have yet to count the latest reported coronavirus-related deaths on Hawaii island at the Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home, where 13 residents died following an outbreak there. Health officials have told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the Hilo fatalities are pending verification.

State health officials on Monday told the Star-Advertiser a total of 25 deaths associated with positive coronavirus test results are still pending receipt of records, including 10 deaths that are pending final Medical Examiner reports.

The U.S. death toll was more than 195,000 today.

Hawaii’s new cases today included 59 on Oahu, six cases on Hawaii island and one case diagnosed outside of the state. As a result of updated information, one case from Hawaii island was removed from the counts and another Honolulu case was re-categorized to Hawaii island, officials said.

As of today 6,859 infections are considered active cases statewide, with a total of 3,885 patients now classified by health officials as “released from isolation,” or about 36% of those infected. The category counts those infected people who have met the criteria for being released from isolation. Officials reported 192 new release cases today.

Today’s total coronavirus cases by county since the start of the outbreak are 9,782 on Oahu, 599 in Hawaii County, 378 in Maui County, and 58 in Kauai County. There are also 27 Hawaii residents diagnosed outside of the state.

Officials counted 1,101 new tests in today’s tally, with today’s 66 positive cases representing 5.9% of the total tested. Of the 263,008 coronavirus tests conducted so far by state and clinical laboratories in Hawaii since the start of the outbreak, a total of 4.1% have been positive.

On Monday’s “Spotlight Hawaii,” the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Facebook Live show, Gov. David Ige said he expects to again delay the reopening of Hawaii tourism beyond the planned Oct. 1 start date. He said he plans to announce a new schedule for reopening the state’s top industry in the next few days.

>> RELATED: Economic woes widen as Gov. David Ige prepares to pause Hawaii’s reopening again

Of all the confirmed Hawaii cases, 654 have required hospitalizations, with 16 new hospitalizations reported today, health officials said.

Two hospitalizations in the statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 652 hospitalizations in the state, 578 have been on Oahu, 47 on Maui, 26 on Hawaii island, and one on Kauai.

By county, Honolulu has seen 3,227 patients released from isolation, Hawaii County has had 362 releases, Maui has seen 239 patients released. Kauai has no active cases as of today, according to the Health Department.

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