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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
A man wearing a mask peered at a sign advertising masks for sale along Maunakea Street on Saturday.
The state Department of Health on Saturday reported three new coronavirus-related deaths and 90 new infections statewide — including 14 on Lanai — bringing Hawaii up to 212 deaths and 14,553 cases since the start of the outbreak.
The latest deaths all occurred on Oahu, but further details were not released. So far the state has reported 165 COVID-related fatalities on Oahu, 28 on Hawaii island and 18 on Maui. One Kauai resident died on the mainland.
The Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency said the Big Island’s COVID death toll is now at 40, although state health officials have yet to verify the coronavirus was a factor in at least a dozen of those cases, so they are not reflected in the statewide numbers.
The U.S. death toll, meanwhile, has grown to 223,995, according to the COVID-19 Dashboard published by Johns Hopkins University. The total U.S. caseload reached record heights with more than 83,000 infections reported Friday.
In Hawaii, there are 2,995 active infections statewide.
Of Saturday’s new infections, 58 were on Oahu, 16 on Hawaii island, and 16 in Maui County.
Of Maui County’s 16 cases, two were on Maui and 14 were on Lanai, which is experiencing a surge in cases after being untouched by the coronavirus for months.
On Friday, Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino reported 28 new cases on Lanai and 65 total cases. The increasing outbreak prompted Victorino to request a stay-at-home order for the island, which he expects to take effect on Tuesday. Victorino said he is waiting for Gov. David Ige to approve the order.
In response to the outbreak, COVID-19 testing for Lanai’s 3,100 residents began Saturday. Eight hundred PCR nasal swab tests and over 11,000 masks were brought to the island, and Lt. Gov. Josh Green, with the U.S. Coast Guard’s assistance, delivered surgical and cloth masks, sanitizer, cleaning solutions and gloves.
Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in Hawaii, there have been 12,791 cases on Oahu, 1,170 in Hawaii County, 480 in Maui County and 60 in Kauai County. There are also 52 Hawaii residents diagnosed outside of the state.
A total of 10,078 patients have been released from isolation on Oahu; 833 have been released in Hawaii County and 377 in Maui County.
Eight new COVID-19 hospitalizations were reported statewide Saturday. There have been 1,065 total hospitalizations to date. Two of those hospitalizations are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state, 942 were on Oahu, 61 on the Hawaii County, 59 on Maui and one on Kauai.
Oahu moved into the less-restrictive Tier 2 of Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s four-tier economic recovery plan last week and must stay at that level for at least 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.
According to a tweet from Caldwell, Saturday’s seven-day average case count was 57 and the positivity rate was 2.5%.
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