Hawaii records 9 new coronavirus-related deaths, 403 additional infections

Hawaii Department of Health officials today reported nine new coronavirus-related deaths and 403 new confirmed and probable infections statewide, bringing the state’s totals since the start of the pandemic to 747 fatalities and 77,369 cases.

Six of the latest deaths were on Oahu and three were on Hawaii island. All of the deceased had underlying conditions. All but two of the deceased were hospitalized.

Of the Oahu deaths, one was a man in his 20s who died at home, one was a woman in her 20s, one was a woman in her 30s, one was a man in his 60s who died at home, one was a woman in her 60s, one was a woman in her 80s.

Of the Hawaii island deaths, one was a man in his 50s, one was a woman in her 60s and one was a man in his 80s.

The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 565 fatalities on Oahu, 84 on Maui, 84 on Hawaii island, eight on Kauai, one on Molokai and five Hawaii residents who died outside the state.

The U.S. coronavirus-related death toll today is over 684,000 and the nationwide infection tally is more than 2.7 million.

Today’s new confirmed and probable infection count by island includes 248 new cases on Oahu, 45 on Maui, 68 on Hawaii island, 27 on Kauai, three on Molokai and 12 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 53,864 on Oahu, 8,911 on Maui, 9,737 in Hawaii County, 2,131 on Kauai, 139 on Lanai and 215 on Molokai. There are also 2,372 Hawaii residents who were diagnosed outside of 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, 6,777 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 decreased today by 340.

By island, Oahu has 4,666 active cases, the Big Island has 1,023, Maui has 591, Kauai has 447, Lanai has five and Molokai has 45.

Health officials counted 7,854 new COVID-19 test results in today’s tally, for a 5.13% statewide positivity rate. 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 1,984,074 vaccine doses have been administered through state and federal distribution programs as of Thursday, up 4,540 from a day earlier. Health officials say that 67.2% of the state’s population is now fully vaccinated, and 75.6% have received at least one dose.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 4,187 have required hospitalizations, with 20 new hospitalizations reported today.

Twenty hospitalizations in the overall statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 4,167 hospitalizations within the state, 3,345 have been on Oahu, 464 on Maui, 309 on the Big Island, 41 on Kauai, five on Lanai and three on Molokai.

According to the latest information from the department’s Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard, a total of 265 patients with the virus were in Hawaii hospitals as of today, with 62 in intensive care units and 47 on ventilators.

The seven-day average case count for Oahu is 262 and the seven-day average positivity rate is 5.4%, state health officials said today.

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