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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / JULY 8
Beachgoers enjoy the sun and surf in Waikiki.
Hawaii Department of Health officials reported 124 new confirmed and probable coronavirus infections today, bringing the state’s total since the start of the pandemic to 39,090 cases.
For the third consecutive day, Hawaii recorded triple-digit new cases. The state saw 147 new infections Friday and 166 new cases Thursday.
Lt. Gov. Josh Green said the spike is “without a doubt” related to gatherings from the July 4 holiday weekend.
“I expect cases will likely drop again by next weekend or sooner but we will keep seeing outbreaks in under-vaccinated areas. Labor (Day) weekend will be risky like the 4th of July weekend,” Green told the Star-Advertiser in a text message.
He also said the new cases are almost exclusively affecting people who have not been vaccinated, adding that they make up 95% of COVID-19 hospital admissions. He called the trend a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
The Star-Advertiser reached out to the state Department of Health and Gov. David Ige’s office, but neither were immediately available for comment.
No new virus-related fatalities were reported today so the statewide COVID-19 death toll remains 523.
The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 405 fatalities on Oahu, 57 on Maui, 56 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 608,000 and the nationwide infection tally is more than 34 million.
Today’s new confirmed and probable infection count by island includes 81 new cases on Oahu, nine on Maui, 20 on Hawaii island, 12 on Kauai and two Hawaii residents diagnosed outside the state.
State health officials have been including probable infections in its total case counts. 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 28,670 on Oahu, 4,801 on Maui, 3,445 in Hawaii County, 465 on Kauai, 115 on Lanai and 81 on Molokai. There are also 1,513 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 842 on Maui, 819 on Oahu, 79 on Hawaii island, 24 on Molokai, three on Kauai, three on Lanai and 60 residents diagnosed outside the state.
The statistics released today reflect the new infection cases reported to the department on Thursday.
Health officials also said today that, of the state’s total infection count, 1,007 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 69.
By island, Oahu has 679 active cases, the Big Island has 164, Maui has 86, Kauai has 77 and one on Molokai.
Health officials counted 4,009 new COVID-19 test results in today’s tally, for a 3.09% statewide positivity rate. The state’s 7-day average positivity rate is 2.9%, according to the Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard.
The latest Hawaii COVID-19 vaccine summary says 1,723,223 vaccine doses have been administered through state and federal distribution programs as of Thursday, up 2,308 from a day earlier. Health officials say that 59.1% of the state’s population is now fully vaccinated, and 65% have received at least one dose.
Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 2,554 have required hospitalizations, with four new hospitalizations reported today.
Fourteen hospitalizations in the overall statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 2,540 hospitalizations within the state, 2,088 have been on Oahu, 290 on Maui, 145 on the Big Island, 11 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 58 patients with the virus were in Hawaii hospitals as of Friday, with 13 in intensive care units and nine on ventilators.
This breaking news story will be updated as more information becomes available.
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