VIDEO: Honolulu mayor gives COVID-19 updates on Oahu’s reopening status, airport mobile testing lab and traveler education program
Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell is holding his weekly COVID-19 update press conference at 12:30 p.m. today to share the latest on Oahu’s status toward reopening.
The mayor also plans to discuss the city’s airport mobile testing laboratory and traveler education program to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.
City officials on Nov. 5 unveiled a new mobile COVID-19 testing laboratory at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport to help expand testing to reduce the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Caldwell previously said the facility has the capacity to test up to 10,000 people a day. Caldwell said so far they have tested 300 people with 5% who tested positive for COVID-19, and urged more travelers to take advantage of the screening.
“We need to do a lot better,” he said.
>> RELATED: Mobile testing lab for virus unveiled at Honolulu airport
Don't miss out on what's happening!
Stay in touch with top news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It's FREE!
Oahu moved to the less-restrictive Tier 2 of Caldwell’s four-tier economic recovery plan on Oct. 22. The mayor’s office says that to gauge whether Honolulu will move to a different tier, the city takes a “weekly assessment” of two key COVID-19 numbers each Wednesday. To move to Tier 3 from Tier 2, the 7-day average of new cases must be below 50 on two consecutive Wednesdays. Also, the 7-day average positivity rate, or percentage of tests coming back positive, must be below 2.5% on those two Wednesdays.
Caldwell said on Monday that it would be “really difficult” for Oahu to advance to Tier 3 level restrictions by Thanksgiving Day next Thursday due to the recent increase in cases. Today’s seven-day average case count for Oahu is 71 and the positivity rate was 2.7%, according to Caldwell.
“We don’t need to give up,” he said. “We need to hunker down and work harder.”
Caldwell said the city has partnered with Roberts Hawaii to educate visitors and residents who arrive on the island about the statewide mask mandate by greeting them and handing out about 3,000 to 4,000 informational flyers per day.
Today’s press conference speakers include Hawaii Office of Economic Revitalization Director Amy Asselbaye, National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii CEO Glen Hayashida and Roberts Hawaii Airport Services Director Tina Scott.
Watch the livestream video above.
This story is developing and will be updated as soon as more information becomes available.
