Hawaii records 1 new coronavirus-related death, 70 additional infections

Hawaii Department of Health officials today reported one new coronavirus-related death and 70 new confirmed and probable infections statewide, bringing the state’s totals since the start of the pandemic to 511 fatalities and 37,284 cases.

No further information was immediately available regarding the latest death on Oahu.

The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 396 fatalities on Oahu, 56 on Maui, 54 on Hawaii island, two on Kauai and three Hawaii residents who died outside the state.

The U.S. coronavirus-related death toll today is over 601,000 and the nationwide infection tally is more than 33.5 million.

Today’s new confirmed and probable infection count by island includes 30 on Hawaii island, 25 new cases on Oahu, seven on Maui, two on Kauai and six Hawaii residents diagnosed outside the state.

State health officials began including probable infections in its total case counts last month. Probable infections include people who never received a confirmatory test but are believed to have had the virus because of their known exposure and symptoms or because of a positive antigen test.

The total number of confirmed and probable coronavirus cases by island since the start of the outbreak are 27,597 on Oahu, 4,638 on Maui, 3,192 in Hawaii County, 346 on Kauai, 115 on Lanai and 79 on Molokai. There are also 1,317 Hawaii residents who were diagnosed outside of the state.

Today’s probable infections since the start of the pandemic added to the counts today include 819 on Maui, 773 on Oahu, 68 on Hawaii island, 24 on Molokai, four on Kauai, three on Lanai and 53 residents diagnosed outside the state.

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

Health officials also said today that, of the state’s total infection count, 665 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 state’s total number of active cases increased today by five.

By island, Oahu has 309 active cases, the Big Island has 189, Maui has 146 and Kauai has 21.

Health officials counted 3,506 new COVID-19 test results in today’s tally, for a 2% statewide positivity rate. The state’s 7-day average positivity rate is 0.9%, according to the Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard.

The latest Hawaii COVID-19 vaccine summary says 1,637,582 vaccine doses have been administered through state and federal distribution programs as of Thursday, up 9,781 from a day earlier. Health officials say that 56% of the state’s population is now fully vaccinated, and 61% have received at least one dose.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 2,416 have required hospitalizations, with five new hospitalizations reported today.

Ten hospitalizations in the overall statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 2,406 hospitalizations within the state, 1,989 have been on Oahu, 271 on Maui, 131 on the Big Island, nine 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 37 patients with the virus were in Hawaii hospitals as of Friday, with nine in intensive care units and three on ventilators.

Oahu earlier this month moved into the less-restrictive Tier 4 of the city’s four-tier economic recovery plan. The change allows social gatherings of up to 25 people at outdoor venues, including at parks and beaches, but the group size for indoor social gatherings remains at 10 people.

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