Gov. David Ige today noted an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases, and urged Hawaii residents to get vaccinated and boosted as well as take extra safety precautions during upcoming holiday gatherings.

“We know that each of these cases is more than just a number,” Ige said during a press conference this morning. “They are our family, friends, neighbors and colleagues.”

During the conference, Ige said there were no backlog cases in the 797 infections reported today.

Ige also noted that the 7-day statewide average jumped to 297 cases a day today, up from 101, with a positivity rate of 4.2%, up from 1.4% just 10 days ago.

Health Department Director Dr. Libby Char said the latest surge is a mix of delta and omicron variant cases.

As of Thursday night, Char said, the Department of Health had confirmed 31 cases of omicron, up from the 14 reported in the latest variant report. Another 17 suspected omicron cases are undergoing whole genome sequencing. All confirmed and suspected omicron cases are on Oahu.

The variant report, released Wednesday, found the majority of variants circulating in Hawaii, 98%, were delta, while 2% were omicron, during the two-week period ending Dec. 4.

But the number of omicron cases is expected to continue multiplying in the state, and to inevitably reach the neighbor islands, which so far have no confirmed cases.

“Omicron appears to be more easily transmitted and it appears right now it is less virulent, but don’t be fooled into thinking it won’t affect our hospitals and our families,” said Char. “Perhaps numbers in the hospitals may end up being worse than delta.”

With higher transmissibility, the higher volume of cases would translate into more infections, and in turn, more COVID-19 patients hospitalized.

“If it’s that easily transmitted,” she said, “just by the sheer numbers we’re going to see people ending up in the hospital and we’re going to see people getting severely ill from it even though it is less virulent than some of the previous variants. So we need to keep our case counts down.”

Char said there has been an increase in breakthrough cases, as well, and urged all who are eligible to get booster doses. That booster is tremendously important, she said, in preventing severe illness or hospitalization.

“Don’t wait,” she said. “Go get it now.”

Both Char and Ige urged all who are eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and to get booster doses, as well continue to wear masks indoors, avoid large gatherings, and to stay home and get tested if experiencing any symptoms, even if they are mild.

These extra precautions should be taken to celebrate safely with loved ones this holiday season.

“We are seeing cases just throughout the community,” said Char. “It’s just widespread community transmission. We have had a couple of notable clusters.”

People are doing the right thing and businesses are following the rules, she said, but there is a pandemic with highly transmissible variants circulating. In certain venues, she added, people take their masks off to eat and drink, and that increases risk. The risks also increase if it’s indoors, crowded or packed with people.

There are hundreds of venues that offer COVID-19 vaccinations as well as boosters statewide, said Char, and DOH will try to make as much testing available as possible.

Despite the waning effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, Ige said he has no plans to change the Safe Travels program or its current rules, which require proof of vaccination without boosters or a negative test to bypass quarantine among domestic travelers. Both are required for international travelers.

“So at this point in time we are not looking to implement any changes,” said Ige. “We constantly evaluate the status on vaccinations and whether we will be requiring additional testing but we are not making changes at this point in time.”

More information on where to find free testing and vaccines is available at hawaiicovid19.com.

Editor’s Note: This story is developing and will be updated as soon as more information becomes available.