Hawaii records 162 new coronavirus cases, bringing statewide total to 40,984

Hawaii Department of Health officials reported 162 new confirmed and probable coronavirus infections today, bringing the state’s total since the start of the pandemic to 40,984 cases.

No new virus-related fatalities were reported today so the statewide COVID-19 death toll remains 529.

For the first time since January, state health officials today also reported more than 100 COVID patients in Hawaii hospitals.

The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 410 fatalities on Oahu, 58 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 more than 611,000 and the nationwide infection tally is more than 34.5 million.

Today was the 13th straight day of triple digit new infections in Hawaii as the delta variant spreads through the state.

Today’s new confirmed and probable infection count by island includes 106 new cases on Oahu, 27 on Hawaii island, 11 on Maui, four on Kauai, and 14Hawaii 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 29,859 on Oahu, 4,961 on Maui, 3,767 in Hawaii County, 519 on Kauai, 117 on Lanai, and 81 on Molokai. There are also 1,680 Hawaii residents who were diagnosed outside of the state.

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

Health officials also said today that, of the state’s total infection count, 2,143 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 95.

Health officials counted 3,262 new COVID-19 test results in today’s tally, for a statewide positivity rate of just under 5%. The state’s 7-day average positivity rate is 4.7%, according to the Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard.

The latest Hawaii COVID-19 vaccine summary says 1,746, 867 vaccine doses have been administered through state and federal distribution programs as of today, up 2,163 from Monday. Health officials say that 59.8% of the state’s population is now fully vaccinated, and 66.4% have received at least one dose.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 2,657 have required hospitalizations, with 24 new hospitalizations — 18 on Oahu, two each on Maui and Kauai, one on Hawaii island and one out-of-state resident — reported today.

Fifteen hospitalizations in the overall statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 2,642 hospitalizations within the state, 2,251 have been on Oahu, 313 on Maui, 156 on the Big Island, 16 on Kauai, five on Lanai, and one on Molokai.

According to today’s update on the department’s Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard, a total of 103 patients with the virus are in Hawaii hospitals, with 20 in intensive care units and 11 on ventilators. The last time that Hawaii had more than 100 COVID patients in the hospitals was Jan. 29.

At the peak of the pandemic last fall, Hawaii had 315 hospitalized patients on Sept. 8, according to the state’s records.

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