Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Sunday, December 15, 2024 77° Today's Paper


Top News

Hawaii records 13 new coronavirus-related deaths, 112 additional infections

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                Hawaii Pacific Health’s Oahu Mobile COVID-19 vaccine clinic — the “Vax Squad” — was seen, Oct. 21, at Hawaii Pacific University at Aloha Tower Marketplace.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Hawaii Pacific Health’s Oahu Mobile COVID-19 vaccine clinic — the “Vax Squad” — was seen, Oct. 21, at Hawaii Pacific University at Aloha Tower Marketplace.

Hawaii Department of Health officials today reported 13 new coronavirus-related deaths and 112 new confirmed and probable infections statewide, bringing the state’s totals since the start of the pandemic to 932 fatalities and 84,690 cases.

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

The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 701 fatalities on Oahu, 120 on Hawaii island, 93 on Maui, nine on Kauai, one on Molokai, and eight Hawaii residents who died outside the state.

The U.S. coronavirus-related death toll today is over 746,000 and the nationwide infection tally is more than 46.1 million.

>> RELATED: First COVID-19 vaccine doses go into the arms of Hawaii children ages 5-11

Today’s new confirmed and probable infection count by island includes 57 new cases on Oahu, 28 on Hawaii island, 18 on Maui, 7 on Kauai and two 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 58,115 on Oahu, 11,171 on Hawaii island, 9,590 on Maui, 2,698 on Kauai, 242 on Molokai, and 144 on Lanai. There are also 2,730 Hawaii residents who were diagnosed outside of the state.

Health officials also said today that, of the state’s total infection count, 1,604 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 45.

By island, Oahu has 854 active cases, the Big Island has 377, Maui has 178, Kauai has 190, Lanai has two and Molokai has three.

Health officials counted 3,878 new COVID-19 test results in today’s tally, for a 2.89% statewide positivity rate. The state’s 7-day average positivity rate is 1.7%, according to the Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard.

The latest Hawaii COVID-19 vaccine summary says 2,216,737 vaccine doses have been administered through state and federal distribution programs as of Wednesday, up 6,997 from a day earlier. Health officials say that 71.5% of the state’s population is now fully vaccinated, and 81.7% have received at least one dose.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 4,779 have required hospitalizations, with 13 new hospitalizations reported today.

Twenty-four hospitalizations in the overall statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 4,755 hospitalizations within the state, 3,721 have been on Oahu, 556 on Maui, 397 on the Big Island, 71 on Kauai, five on Lanai and five on Molokai.

According to the latest information from the department’s Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard, a total of 65 patients with the virus were in Hawaii hospitals as of today, with 15 in intensive care units and 12 on ventilators.

The state’s 7-day average positivity rate is 1.7%, according to the Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard. The seven-day average case count for Oahu is 54 and the seven-day average positivity rate is 1.6%, state health officials said today.


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


By participating in online discussions you acknowledge that you have agreed to the Terms of Service. An insightful discussion of ideas and viewpoints is encouraged, but comments must be civil and in good taste, with no personal attacks. If your comments are inappropriate, you may be banned from posting. Report comments if you believe they do not follow our guidelines. Having trouble with comments? Learn more here.