81
ASSOCIATED PRESS / 2007
The Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home in Hilo has been the site of a major cluster of coronavirus cases. Hawaii County says a total of 23 residents with the virus have died.
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
A health care worker demonstrates how to administer a COVID-19 test during free walk-up surge testing at Aloha Stadium on Sept. 6.
UPDATE: 9:25 p.m.
Hilo Medical Center officials reported the second coronavirus-related death today of a resident of the Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home in Hilo, bringing the nursing home’s pandemic death toll to 24.
A total of 26 people with COVID-19 have died on the Big Island, all but two of whom were residents of the nursing home.
Hilo Medical Center tonight gave the following breakdown of the COVID-19 cluster at the veterans home as reported by Avalon Healthcare, the home’s management company:
>> 24 resident deaths related to COVID-19 have occurred.
>> 52 residents are at the Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home
>> 19 residents are receiving care in the home’s COVID designated area
>> Five residents are hospitalized at Hilo Medical Center
>> 70 residents and 32 employees have tested positive for COVID-19
>> and 22 residents and 22 employees have recovered.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE
Hawaii Department of Health officials today reported 77 new COVID-19 infections statewide, bringing the total number since the start of the pandemic to 11,403 cases.
The official statewide death remained at 120 today. However, the Hilo Medical Center said this afternoon that they have recorded another coronavirus-related death of a Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home resident, bringing the total number of fatalities on the Big Island to 25, all but two of them at the Hilo nursing home.
A total of 69 nursing home residents and 30 employees have tested positive for the virus, according to Avalon Healthcare, the veterans home’s managing company. The home had 89 residents before the coronavirus outbreak at the facility.
A team of health care professionals from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has issued a detailed and sometimes scathing assessment of the sanitary conditions and procedures at the Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home.
In response to the report, U.S. Sen Brian Schatz issued a statement today, saying, “This report makes clear that Avalon did not take the steps necessary to protect its residents and staff. We have known all along that nursing homes and their residents were particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, so it is infuriating to see that basic infection control practices were not in place months after the pandemic began. Avalon must take immediate action to address the recommendations of this report to ensure the safety of the veterans and staff at the State Veterans Home.”
State health officials have not verified the cause of death for all the fatalities reported by Hawaii County. The state Health Department’s official death toll include 95 on Oahu, nine on Maui, 15 on Hawaii island, while one was a Kauai resident who died on the mainland.
The U.S. death toll was nearly 199,500 today.
The new infection cases in Hawaii today included 71 on Oahu, five in Hawaii County, and one in Maui County.
Today’s total coronavirus cases by county since the start of the outbreak are 10,289 on Oahu, 644 in Hawaii County, 385 in Maui County, and 57 in Kauai County. There are also 28 Hawaii residents diagnosed outside of the state.
As of today, 6,524 infections are considered active cases statewide, with a total of 4,759 patients now classified by health officials as “released from isolation,” or about 40% of those infected. The category counts those infected people who have met the criteria for being released from isolation. Officials reported 137 new release cases today.
Officials counted 1,678 new tests in today’s tally, with today’s 77 positive results representing 4.6% of the total tested.
Of the 281,418 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.
Lt. Gov. Josh Green, who tested positive for coronavirus, said today that there are now 185 COVID-19 patients in Hawaii hospitals, with 51 of them in intensive care units and 40 on ventilators. He said that 158, or 65%, of the state’s 244 ICU beds, and 94, or 20%, of Hawaii’s 459 ventilators are in use, by both coronavirus and non-virus patients.
Of all the confirmed Hawaii cases, 730 have required hospitalizations, with four new hospitalizations — three on Oahu and one on the Big Island — reported today, health officials said.
Two hospitalizations in the statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 728 hospitalizations in the state, 646 have been on Oahu, 48 on Maui, 33 on Hawaii island, and one on Kauai.
By county, Honolulu has seen 3,992 patients released from isolation, Hawaii County has had 453 releases, Maui has seen 258 patients released. Kauai has no active cases as of today, according to the Health Department.
RELATED STORY: Hawaii businesses claimed by COVID-19 could total 1,000
By participating in online discussions you acknowledge that you have agreed to the Terms of Service. An insightful discussion of ideas and viewpoints is encouraged, but comments must be civil and in good taste, with no personal attacks. If your comments are inappropriate, you may be banned from posting. Report comments if you believe they do not follow our guidelines.
Having trouble with comments? Learn more here.