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Hawaii records 79 new coronavirus infections as statewide tally climbs to 28,851

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                Solomone Halaeua, gets vaccination from registered nurse Jomelyn Marcelino at a free COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Trinity United Methodist Church in Pearl City Saturday. The clinic was organized to serve two underserved groups in the community: Tongan elders and Southeast Asian immigrant farmers. The Inter-Agency Council for Immigrant and Refugee Services and Trinity United Methodist Church hosted the clinic, and Kalihi Palama Health Center employees administered the shots.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Solomone Halaeua, gets vaccination from registered nurse Jomelyn Marcelino at a free COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Trinity United Methodist Church in Pearl City Saturday. The clinic was organized to serve two underserved groups in the community: Tongan elders and Southeast Asian immigrant farmers. The Inter-Agency Council for Immigrant and Refugee Services and Trinity United Methodist Church hosted the clinic, and Kalihi Palama Health Center employees administered the shots.

Hawaii Department of Health officials today reported 79 new coronavirus infections, bringing the state’s total since the start of the pandemic to 28,851 cases.

State health officials reported no new coronavirus-related deaths as the statewide death toll remains at 454.

The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 361 fatalities on Oahu, 53 on Hawaii island, 36 on Maui, one on Kauai, and three Hawaii residents who died outside the state.

The U.S. coronavirus-related death toll today was more than 542,000 and the nationwide infection tally is more than 29.9 million.

Today’s new statewide infection cases include 48 on Oahu, 19 on Maui, nine on Hawaii island, two on Molokai, and one on Kauai, according to health officials.

The statistics released today reflect the new infection cases reported to the department on Saturday.

The total number of coronavirus cases by island since the start of the outbreak are 22,610 on Oahu, 2,629 on Maui, 2,384 in Hawaii County, 187 on Kauai, 109 on Lanai and 33 on Molokai. There are also 899 Hawaii residents who were diagnosed outside of the state. As a result of updated information, one case from Oahu was removed from the counts, health officials said today.

Health officials also said today that of the state’s total infection count, 886 cases were considered to be 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 increased by 36 today.

By island, Oahu has 486 active cases, Maui has 290, the Big Island has 102, Molokai has six, Kauai has one and Lanai has one.

Health officials counted 6,290 new COVID-19 test results in today’s tally, for a 1.26% statewide positivity rate. The state’s 7-day average positivity rate is 1.5%, according to the Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard.

The state’s Hawaii COVID-19 vaccine summary said today that 541,584 vaccines have been administered of the 654,090 received by the state. About 23% of the general population in Hawaii has received at least one dose of the vaccine. Of those who have received at least one vaccine dose so far, 49% are age 59 or younger, while 51% are age 60 or older.

Of the administered vaccines, 516,714 were given to the general public and 24,870 were distributed through the federal pharmacy program, officials said.

>> RELATED: Slight Hawaii COVID rise follows increase in travel, easing of rules

Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 1,953 have required hospitalizations, with three new hospitalizations reported today by state health officials.

Eight hospitalizations in the statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 1,948 hospitalizations within the state, 1,668 have been on Oahu, 158 on Maui, 105 on the Big Island, eight on Kauai, five on Lanai and one on Molokai.

According to the latest information from the department’s Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard, a total of 21 patients with the virus were in Hawaii hospitals as of Friday morning, with eight in intensive care units and six on ventilators.

Oahu moved into the less-restrictive Tier 3 of the city’s four-tier economic recovery plan on Feb. 25 after being in Tier 2 since Oct. 22. Tier 3 permits social and outdoor recreational gatherings of up to 10 people, and restaurants to seat 10 people at a table, up from five now. Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi on March 11 announced modifications to Tier 3, including allowing bars to reopen under the same conditions as restaurants and extending the curfew until midnight.

Today’s seven-day average case count for Oahu is 43 and the seven-day average positivity rate is 1.6%, according to the mayor.


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


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