Hawaii records 8 new coronavirus-related deaths, 304 additional infections

Hawaii Department of Health officials today reported eight new coronavirus-related deaths and 304 new confirmed and probable infections statewide, bringing the state’s totals since the start of the pandemic to 826 fatalities and 80,886 cases.

Five of the latest deaths were on Oahu and three were on the Big Island. No further information was immediately available regarding the latest deaths.

The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 625 fatalities on Oahu, 88 on Maui, 99 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 709,000 and the nationwide infection tally is more than 44.1 million.

Today’s new confirmed and probable infection count by island includes 166 new cases on Oahu, 30 on Maui, 54 on Hawaii island, 28 on Kauai and 26 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 56,087 on Oahu, 9,222 on Maui, 10,352 in Hawaii County, 2,373 on Kauai, 139 on Lanai and 232 on Molokai. There are also 2,481 Hawaii residents who were diagnosed outside of the state.

Health officials also said today that, of the state’s total infection count, 3,744 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 139.

By island, Oahu has 2,466 active cases, the Big Island has 676, Maui has 320, Kauai has 266 and Molokai has 16.

Health officials counted 7,540 new COVID-19 test results in today’s tally, for a 4.03% statewide positivity rate. The state’s 7-day average positivity rate is 3.2%, according to the Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard.

The latest Hawaii COVID-19 vaccine summary says 2,059,716 vaccine doses have been administered through state and federal distribution programs as of Wednesday, up 8,552 from a day earlier. Health officials say that 69.2% of the state’s population is now fully vaccinated, and 77.4% have received at least one dose.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 4,444 have required hospitalizations, with 22 new hospitalizations reported today.

Twenty hospitalizations in the overall statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 4,424 hospitalizations within the state, 3,527 have been on Oahu, 491 on Maui, 342 on the Big Island, 55 on Kauai, five on Lanai and four on Molokai.

According to the latest information from the department’s Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard, a total of 149 patients with the virus were in Hawaii hospitals as of today, with 41 in intensive care units and 32 on ventilators.

The seven-day average case count for Oahu is 166 and the seven-day average positivity rate is 3.2%, state health officials said today.

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