Hawaii reports 3 additional coronavirus-related deaths on Oahu, and 131 new cases statewide

UPDATE: 3:55 p.m.

Hawaii health officials said the three new Oahu coronavirus-related deaths reported earlier today involved two men and one woman, all of whom were older than 80, and hospitalized with underlying medical conditions. No further details were released.

Officials also noted that the Lanai cluster of COVID-19 cases has grown by 28 confirmed infections, for a total of 49.

The Health Department has identified a couple of large social gatherings that have likely contributed to this community outbreak, officials said this afternoon. Other cases came from household transmission, and one case had a history of travel to Oahu.

Health officials will also be conducting drive-through testing on Lanai Saturday at the Old Dole Administration Building in Lanai City from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for anyone 15 years or older, by appointment only. Appointments can be made by calling (808) 565-6423 or (808) 565-6919

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Hawaii health officials reported three new coronavirus-related deaths on Oahu and 131 new infections statewide today, bringing the totals since the start of the pandemic to 209 deaths and 14,464 cases.

No further details about the latest fatalities were immediately released. Today was the second day in the row that the state Department of Health announced three more deaths on Oahu.

The department’s official state death toll includes 162 fatalities on Oahu, 28 on Hawaii island, 18 on Maui, and one Kauai resident who died on the mainland. Hilo County officials have said that the Big Island’s COVID-19 death toll is now at 40, however state health officials now have yet to verify coronavirus as a factor in 12 of those Big Island deaths.

The U.S. coronavirus death toll is over 223,000 today.

Today’s new infection cases include 67 on Oahu, 34 on Hawaii island, 29 in Maui County, and one Hawaii resident diagnosed out of state. After being untouched by the coronavirus for months, the island of Lanai is experiencing a growing cluster of COVID-19 cases with several dozen being reported by Maui health authorities. Residents are being told to shelter in place.

As the result of updated information, two cases from Honolulu were removed from the statewide counts, health officials said.

As of today, 2,963 infections are considered active cases statewide, with a total of 11,292 patients now classified by health officials as “released from isolation,” or 78% of those infected, according to the state’s official count. The category counts those infected people who have met the criteria for being released from isolation. Officials reported 60 new releases today.

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Today’s total coronavirus cases by county since the start of the outbreak are 12,734 on Oahu, 1,154 in Hawaii County, 464 in Maui County and 60 in Kauai County. There are also 52 Hawaii residents diagnosed outside of the state.

Health Department officials said they counted 4,843 tests in today’s count for a 2.7% statewide positivity rate.

By county, Honolulu has seen 10,031 patients released from isolation, Hawaii County has had 826 releases, Maui has seen 377 patients released. Kauai has one active case.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii cases, 1,057 have required hospitalizations, with 12 new hospitalizations — 11 on Oahu and one on Hawaii island — reported today by state health officials.

Two hospitalizations in the statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 1,055 hospitalizations within the state, 934 have been on Oahu, 61 on the Big Island, 59 on Maui, and one on Kauai.

According to the latest data from the Health Department, a total of 71 patients with COVID-19 are in Hawaii hospitals, with 18 in intensive care units and 11 on ventilators.

Oahu moved to the less-restrictive Tier 2 of Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s four-tier economic recovery plan today, and must stay in that tier for four weeks. To move to Tier 3, Oahu must maintain a seven-day average case count of 49 or fewer cases, and a seven-day average positivity rate of 2.49% or lower for 14 consecutive days at the end of the four-week period. Today’s seven-day average case count is 60 and the positivity rate is 2.6%.

This breaking news story will be updated as more information becomes available.