Hawaii counts another 485 coronavirus cases; active infections near 3,000
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / JULY 23
Health care worker Jacklynn Tema explains how to self administer a COVID-19 test at Terminal 2 of Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on July 23. The state’s 7-day average positivity rate for coronavirus testing is more than 5%.
Hawaii Department of Health officials reported 485 new confirmed and probable coronavirus infections today, the second-highest daily total which brings the state’s total since the start of the pandemic to 42,410 cases.
No new virus-related fatalities were reported today so the statewide COVID-19 death toll remains 537.
The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 413 fatalities on Oahu, 61 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 613,000 and the nationwide infection tally is nearly 35 million.
Today’s case count was initially reported by Lt. Gov. Josh Green in a social media post this morning.
The latest numbers come a day after the state reported a record 622 new infections, a combination of the highly contagious delta variant and a backlog of uncounted cases from earlier this week due to a problem with laboratory testing results. Hawaii is in the midst of the greatest surge in coronavirus case so far this year, which has state officials stepping up the urgency in their calls for unvaccinated residents to get the shots..
The new confirmed and probable infection count reported today includes 315 new cases on Oahu, 101 on Hawaii island, 42 on Maui, nine on Kauai, and 18 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 30,721 on Oahu, 5,125 on Maui, 4,051 in Hawaii County, 548 on Kauai, 117 on Lanai, and 81 on Molokai. There are also 1,767 Hawaii residents who were diagnosed outside of the state.
Of the state’s total infection count, 2,996 cases were considered to be active. Three weeks ago that number was under 700. 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 343.
By island, Oahu has 2,026 active cases, the Big Island has 604, Maui has 281, Kauai has 383, Lanai has two, and Molokai has none.
Health officials counted 6,691 new COVID-19 test results in today’s tally, for a statewide positivity rate of about 7%. The state’s 7-day average positivity rate is 5.5%, according to the Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard.
The latest Hawaii COVID-19 vaccine summary says 1,754,544 vaccine doses have been administered through state and federal distribution programs as of Thursday. Health officials say that 60.1% of the state’s population is now fully vaccinated, and 66.9% have received at least one dose.The state’s next update on vaccine doses administered will be Monday.
The statistics released today reflect new infection cases reported to the department on Thursday.
Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 2,708 have required hospitalizations, with 14 new hospitalizations reported today.
Fifteen hospitalizations in the overall statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 2,693 hospitalizations within the state, 2,192 have been on Oahu, 316 on Maui, 163 on the Big Island, 16 on Kauai, five on Lanai, and one on Molokai.
According to Friday’s update on the department’s Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard, a total of 117 patients with the virus were in Hawaii hospitals, with 23 in intensive care units and 12 on ventilators. The last time Hawaii had more than 100 COVID patients in the hospitals was Jan. 29.
State health officials have not updated their daily hospitalization census today, but Green said this morning in his Instagram post that 129 virus patients are now in Hawaii hospitals
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Hawaii recorded another 485 new coronavirus infections today, one day after recording a record 622 new cases, according to Lt. Gov. Josh Green.
Green posted on Instagram this morning, ahead of the Department of Health’s daily midday update, that the 485 cases included 315 on Oahu, 101 on the Big Island, 42 in Maui County and nine on Kauai. Green did not say but the other 18 cases are presumably Hawaii residents diagnosed outside the state.
Green also said there are 129 virus patients hospitalized in the state today, up from 117 on Friday, and that the statewide testing positivity rate was 5.5%.
The latest numbers come a day after the state reported a record 622 new infections, a combination of the highly contagious delta variant and a backlog of uncounted cases from earlier this week due to a problem with laboratory testing results. Hawaii is in the midst of the greatest surge in coronavirus case so far this year, which has state officials stepping up the urgency in their calls for unvaccinated residents to get the shots.
This breaking news story will be updated as more information becomes available.
