Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Monday, December 2, 2024 68° Today's Paper


Hawaii News

Hawaii reports 3 new coronavirus-related deaths, 82 additional infections

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                The White family took advantage of free COVID-19 testing Saturday at 1700 Lanakila Ave. Zaire, Titus and Marvin White wait with their father, Theotis White (center) while Thaddeus White gets tested by Hawaii National Guard Spc. Dante Eugenio-Alexander and Spc. Megan Casinillo, right. Rapid tests were free to any Hawaii residents who presented a state ID or driver’s license.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

The White family took advantage of free COVID-19 testing Saturday at 1700 Lanakila Ave. Zaire, Titus and Marvin White wait with their father, Theotis White (center) while Thaddeus White gets tested by Hawaii National Guard Spc. Dante Eugenio-Alexander and Spc. Megan Casinillo, right. Rapid tests were free to any Hawaii residents who presented a state ID or driver’s license.

State Department of Health officials reported three new coronavirus-related deaths and 82 additional infections Sunday as vaccination efforts advanced to combat vulnerability to COVID-19.

Two of the latest deaths were on Oahu, and the third was on Maui. No further details were immediately released on the fatalities.

Statewide since the start of the pandemic, there have been 410 fatalities and 25,853 cases.

By island, new Hawaii cases reported Sunday include 59 on Oahu, 11 on the Big Island, eight on Maui and four residents diagnosed outside of Hawaii, officials said.

The statistics released Sunday reflect the new infection cases reported to the department Friday.

Meanwhile, vaccination efforts continue to advance.

Hawaii Pacific Health said Sunday that it administered 1,553 vaccine shots Saturday, all at its Pier 2 operation at Honolulu Harbor.

State officials update total vaccinations only on weekdays. As of Friday, 137,100 vaccines had been administered, up 9,681 from Thursday.

The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 327 fatalities on Oahu, 53 on Hawaii island, 26 on Maui, one on Kauai and three Hawaii residents who died outside the state.

The U.S. coronavirus-related death toll was nearly 441,000 Sunday.

The number of coronavirus cases by island since the start of the outbreak are 20,923 on Oahu, 2,162 in Hawaii County, 1,734 on Maui, 178 on Kauai, 107 on Lanai and 25 on Molokai. There are also 724 Hawaii residents diagnosed outside of the state. As a result of updated information, one case from Maui was re-categorized to Hawaii island, state officials said Sunday.

Health officials also said Sunday that of the state’s total infection count, 1,412 cases were considered active. Officials say they consider infections reported in the past 14 days to be a “proxy number for active cases.” The number of active cases in the state decreased by 44 Sunday.

By island, Oahu has 1,040 active cases, Maui has 276, the Big Island has 90, Kauai has five and Lanai has one, according to the state’s latest tally. Molokai has no active COVID cases.

Health officials counted 4,569 new COVID-19 test results in Sunday’s tally, for a 1.7% statewide positivity rate. The state’s seven-day average positivity rate is 2.2%, according to the Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 1,696 have required hospitalization, with two new hospitalizations on Oahu reported Sunday by state health officials.

Four hospitalizations in the statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 1,692 hospitalizations within the state, 1,484 have been on Oahu, 99 on Maui, 96 on the Big Island, seven on Kauai, five on Lanai and one on Molokai.

According to the latest information from the department’s Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard, 75 patients with the virus were in Hawaii hospitals as of Friday morning, with 20 in intensive care units and 15 on ventilators.

Oahu moved to the less restrictive Tier 2 of Honolulu’s four-tier economic recovery plan Oct. 22. 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 seven-day average of new cases must be below 50 on two consecutive Wednesdays. Also, the seven-day average positivity rate must be below 2.5% on those two Wednesdays.

The seven-day average case count for Oahu through Sunday was 70, and the seven­-day average positivity rate was 2.6%, according to the city.

Mayor Rick Blangiardi has said he hoped to stay in Tier 2 and not return to Tier 1, in the city’s four-tiered framework established by former Mayor Kirk Caldwell. Under Tier 2, restaurants can serve up to five unrelated people. Under Tier 1, restaurants were allowed to serve five people only if they were from the same household.

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.