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Hawaii sees 103 new coronavirus cases as the statewide tally rises to 29,511

JAMM AQUINO / JAN. 5
                                A pharmacist prepares a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Craigside Apartments in Honolulu in January.

JAMM AQUINO / JAN. 5

A pharmacist prepares a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Craigside Apartments in Honolulu in January.

Hawaii Department of Health officials today reported 103 new coronavirus infections statewide, bringing the state’s total since the start of the pandemic to 29,511 cases.

State health officials reported no new coronavirus-related deaths as the statewide death toll remains at 462.

The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 365 fatalities on Oahu, 53 on Hawaii island, 40 on Maui, one on Kauai, and three Hawaii residents who died outside the state.

The U.S. coronavirus-related death toll today is more than 549,000 and the nationwide infection tally is over 30.3 million.

Today’s new statewide infection cases include 52 on Oahu, 36 on Maui, and 10 on Hawaii island and five Hawaii residents diagnosed outside the state, 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 22,976 on Oahu, 2,815 on Maui, 2,457 in Hawaii County, 189 on Kauai, 110 on Lanai and 34 on Molokai. There are also 930 Hawaii residents who were diagnosed outside of the state.

Health officials also said today that of the state’s total infection count, 1,158 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 increasedby 54 today.

By island, Oahu has 669 active cases, Maui has 356, the Big Island has 122, Molokai has six, Kauai has three and Lanai has two.

Health officials counted 2,419 new COVID-19 test results in today’s tally, for a 4.26% statewide positivity rate. The state’s 7-day average positivity rate is 1.8%, according to the Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard.

The state’s Hawaii COVID-19 vaccine summary said today that 604,570 vaccines have been administered of the 768,710 received by the state. About 27% 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, 50% are age 59 or younger, while 50% are age 60 or older. Of the administered vaccines, 579,616 were given to the general public and 24,954 were distributed through the federal pharmacy program, officials said.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 1,978 have required hospitalizations, with no 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 1,970 hospitalizations within the state, 1,680 have been on Oahu, 169 on Maui, 107 on the Big Island, eight on Kauai, five on Lanai and one on Molokai.

>> RELATED STORY: Rising COVID-19 cases could push Oahu back to Tier 2

According to the latest information from the department’s Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard, a total of 39 patients with the virus were in Hawaii hospitals as of Thursday morning, with seven in intensive care units and four 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 53 and the seven-day average positivity rate is 2.0%, according to the mayor.


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


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