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Hawaii reports 840 new coronavirus infections; omicron cases in islands increase

UPDATE: 4:35 p.m.

State Department of Health officials said they have detected additional omicron variant coronavirus cases, bringing the statewide total of highly transmissible variant cases to 50.

They said this afternoon that 49 of the 50 cases are on Oahu, while the source and location of the remaining case is being investigated.

Still the continue to caution that it is reasonable to assume that omicron may be present on the neighbor islands.

More data are needed to determine whether Omicron infections cause more severe illness than other variants.

RELATED STORY: Omicron sweeps across nation, now 73% of U.S. COVID-19 cases

Earlier today, Lt. Gov. Josh Green tweeted that there are 58 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Hawaii hospitals with 45 of them unvaccinated.

But updated Health Department data on the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency’s COVID-19 Information Hub showed 49 coronavirus patients in the hospital as of today, up from 41 on Friday. Of the 49 patients, nine are in intensive care units and six are on ventilators.

Health officials strongly encourage COVID-19 booster shots for everyone eligible and say vaccines are expected to protect against severe illness, hospitalizations, and deaths in people who have contracted the omicron variant.

They continue to encourage people with even mild symptoms to say home, avoid other people and get tested. People who have been in close contact with those infected by COVID-19 should also be tested.

Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, even mild symptoms, is asked to stay home from work, school and other activities. They should avoid other people and get tested.

Information on free testing and vaccines is available at www.hawaiicovid19.com.

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Hawaii Department of Health officials reported 840 new confirmed and probable coronavirus infections today, bringing the state’s total since the start of the pandemic to 93,586 cases.

No new virus-related fatalities were reported today so the statewide COVID-19 death toll remains 1,072.

The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 796 fatalities on Oahu, 147 on Hawaii island, 103 on Maui, 14 on Kauai, one on Molokai and 11 Hawaii residents who died outside the state.

Hawaii Department of Health investigators find out the vaccination status of each positive case after the fact, which is why those statistics are not included side by side in the daily case counts, officials have previously said.

The U.S. coronavirus-related death toll today is over 803,000 and the nationwide infection tally is more than 50.6 million.

Today’s new confirmed and probable infection count by island includes 742 new cases on Oahu, 26 on Hawaii island, 42 on Maui, 21 on Kauai, one on Molokai, three on Lanai and five 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.

Today’s infection tally are from cases reported to the state on Saturday.

The total number of confirmed and probable coronavirus cases by island since the start of the outbreak are 64,290 on Oahu, 12,058 on Hawaii island, 10,379 on Maui, 3,376 on Kauai, 259 on Molokai and 148 on Lanai. There are also 3,076 Hawaii residents who were diagnosed outside of the state.

Health officials also said today that, of the state’s total infection count, 4,986 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 increased today by 749.

By island, Oahu has 4,296 active cases, the Big Island has 239, Kauai has 158, Maui has 275, Molokai has 15 and Lanai has three.

Health officials counted 9,139 new COVID-19 test results in today’s tally, for a 9.19% statewide positivity rate.

The state’s seven-day average daily case count positivity rate is 569, and the seven-day average testing positivity rate 6.6%, according to the Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard. The seven-day average case count for Oahu is 507 and the seven-day average positivity rate is 8.4%, state health officials said today.

The latest Hawaii COVID-19 vaccine summary says 2,470,027 vaccine doses have been administered through state and federal distribution programs as of today, up 16,648 from Friday. Health officials say that 73.5% of the state’s population is now fully vaccinated, and 78.8% have received at least one dose.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 5,173 have required hospitalizations, with no new hospitalizations reported today.

Thirty hospitalizations in the overall statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 5,143 hospitalizations within the state, 3,950 have been on Oahu, 620 on Maui, 454 on the Big Island, 104 on Kauai, 10 on Molokai and five on Lanai.

Lt. Gov. Josh Green tweeted this morning that there are 58 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Hawaii hospitals with 45 of them unvaccinated. On Friday, state data showed 41 hospitalizations.

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


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


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