Hawaii reports 2 new coronavirus-related deaths, 234 additional cases; 60% of state’s population now fully vaccinated

Hawaii Department of Health officials today reported two new coronavirus-related deaths and 234 additional confirmed and probable infections statewide, bringing the state’s totals to 534 fatalities and 41,303 cases since the start of the pandemic. The state also reported that 60% of Hawaii’s population is now fully vaccinated.

One death was on Oahu and the other on Hawaii island. No further details on the fatalities were released.

The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 411 fatalities on Oahu, 60 on Maui, 58 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 612,000 and the nationwide infection tally is over 34.7 million.

Today’s infection count includes some cases that did not get reported Wednesday due to “an electronic lab reporting system interruption,” according to the Health Department.

The new confirmed and probable infection count reported today includes 138 new cases on Oahu, 54 on Hawaii island, 31 on Maui, nine on Kauai, and two Hawaii residents diagnosed outside of the state.

The total number of confirmed and probable coronavirus cases by island since the start of the outbreak are 30,047 on Oahu, 5,009 on Maui, 3,839 in Hawaii County, 531 on Kauai, 117 on Lanai, and 81 on Molokai. There are also 1,679 Hawaii residents who were diagnosed outside of the state.

The statistics released today reflect new infection cases reported to the department on Monday and Tuesday.

Of the state’s total infection count, 2,264 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 79.

By island, Oahu has 1,533 active cases, the Big Island has 436, Maui has 205, Kauai has 87, Lanai has two, and Molokai has one.

Health officials counted 4,452 new COVID-19 test results in today’s tally, for a statewide positivity rate of just over 5%. The state’s 7-day average positivity rate is 4.8%, according to the Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard.

The latest Hawaii COVID-19 vaccine summary says 1,751,622 vaccine doses have been administered through state and federal distribution programs as of Wednesday, up 2,645 from Tuesday. Health officials say that 60% of the state’s population is now fully vaccinated, and 66.8% have received at least one dose.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 2,684 have required hospitalizations, with 12 new hospitalizations reported today.

Fifteen hospitalizations in the overall statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 2,669 hospitalizations within the state, 2,173 have been on Oahu, 313 on Maui, 161 on the Big Island, 16 on Kauai, five on Lanai, and one on Molokai.

On Tuesday, for the first time since January, state health officials reported more than 100 COVID patients in Hawaii hospitals.

According to Thursday’s update on the department’s Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard, a total of 114 patients with the virus are in Hawaii hospitals, with 23 in intensive care units and 12 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.