Big Island coronavirus cases hit 1-day peak and surpass Oahu
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
At Waikiki Beach, during their walk using protective masks Sunday, Ashton, left, and friend Raiden walked with Raiden’s grandfather Chris past a masked statue of Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole.
The number of COVID-19 cases reported Sunday on the Big Island reached 51, the isle’s largest one-day tally since the start of the pandemic.
It was also the first time since May, when statewide infections were in the single digits, that a neighbor island topped Oahu’s daily COVID-19 count.
Hawaii health officials’ count of 121 new coronavirus infections Sunday included 49 COVID-19 cases on Oahu, 18 in Maui County, one on Kauai and two Hawaii residents diagnosed out of state.
Sunday’s results brought the total since the start of the pandemic to 14,672 cases. Sunday’s total coronavirus cases by county since the start of the outbreak are 12,839 on Oahu, 1,221 in Hawaii County, 497 in Maui County and 61 in Kauai County. There are also 54 Hawaii residents diagnosed outside of the state.
The Health Department didn’t report any new COVID-19 deaths Sunday. The official state death toll remained at 212, which includes 165 fatalities on Oahu, 28 on Hawaii island, 18 on Maui and one Kauai resident who died on the mainland.
The Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency said Sunday that the Big Island’s COVID-19 death toll is now at 40; however, state health officials have yet to verify the novel coronavirus as a factor in 12 of those Big Island deaths.
The agency said the high numbers of infections that Hawaii island is experiencing are concentrated in housing areas in the North Kona and South Hilo districts.
Lanai also is experiencing a growing cluster of COVID-19 cases, with several dozen being reported by Maui County health authorities. Officials said Friday that the Lanai cluster has grown to 65 confirmed infections, prompting an islandwide stay-at-home order to take effect Tuesday.
Separately Sunday, Kauai County officials announced that a Kauai resident tested positive for COVID- 19 after taking a post-travel test.
The adult male resident recently returned from the mainland and received a quarantine exemption by testing negative prior to flying to Kauai, but tested positive after voluntary taking the county’s post-travel test, Kauai officials said in a news release. The man is in isolation, and one close contact is in quarantine, they said.
As of Sunday, 3,055 infections are considered active cases statewide, with 11,405 patients, or 78% of those infected, now classified by health officials as “released from isolation,” 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 59 new releases Sunday.
Of all the confirmed Hawaii cases, 1,065 have required hospitalizations, with no new hospitalizations reported Sunday by state health officials.
According to the latest data from the Health Department, 64 patients with COVID-19 are in Hawaii hospitals, with 15 in intensive care units and 10 on ventilators.
