The number of coronavirus cases in Hawaii skyrocketed to a single-day record of 3,484 on Thursday, the highest count recorded since the start of the pandemic.

The new peak surpassed the previous record high of 2,205 on Sunday, which topped the previous high of 1,828 on Christmas Eve, a week ago. And that count eclipsed a peak tallied during the delta surge — 1,678 cases on Aug. 29, which included a reporting backlog.

Health officials say this is no surprise — with cases of the highly contagious omicron variant known to double about every two to three days — and warn that even higher case counts are on the horizon for the start of the new year.

Dr. Scott Miscovich of Hawaii Premier Medical Group said he and others had predicted this, and stressed that stepped-up mitigation is needed to combat the public health threat.

“We believe we’re going to have 5,000 (new cases in a single-day statewide count) within the next seven days,” Miscovich told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “We predicted a week ago that Maui and Big Island will both exceed 500 a day.”

If no further advance testing or mitigation efforts are made on Maui and Hawaii island, he said, the daily case numbers there could reach up to 1,000 a day. For Oahu, Miscovich expects cases to climb as high as the 8,000-to-10,000 range by mid-January.

In response to the recent rise in COVID-19 cases, Gov. David Ige on Thursday signed an emergency proclamation temporarily suspending a new provision in Hawaii’s Sunshine Law — slated to take effect on Saturday — that would have mandated at least one in-person location be provided for public meetings.

The new state law, signed by the governor earlier this year, allows meetings to be conducted remotely, while still requiring at least one in-person meeting location. The mitigation move is in effect through Feb. 28.

Meanwhile, Maui County’s Mayor Michael Victorino has revised the definition of “fully vaccinated” to include a booster shot, effective Jan. 8.

The new definition will affect the county’s current rules regarding access to restaurants, bars and gyms, which limit admission to patrons providing proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result obtained within 48 hours.

Under the new rule, vaccination cards must show the dates of a person’s last dose as well as a booster shot.

“Our rules reflect the changing conditions during this ongoing pandemic, and the need to protect the health and safety of our residents,” Victorino said.

The record surge in cases comes on the heels of the Hawaii Department of Health announcing the state would cut its COVID-19 isolation and quarantine time requirements in half to align with recent recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hawaii’s relaxed rules, effective Monday, require those who test positive for COVID-19 regardless of vaccination status to isolate for at least five instead of 10 days, but they must remain in isolation until symptoms are gone. Also, they must wear a mask for five days after isolation.

Among those testing negative after being exposed to COVID-19, anyone who is boosted or at least fully vaccinated within the past six months — two months for the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine — does not need to quarantine. However, people in this bracket should mask up for 10 days and get tested on day five.

If not boosted or fully vaccinated, people exposed to COVID-19 should quarantine for five instead of 10 days, wear a mask for five days after quarantine and get tested on day five.

The tests on day five can be PCR (polymerase chain reaction) or antigen, DOH said. Home tests are also acceptable.

Miscovich said these rules, based on CDC guidance, come at exactly the wrong time.

“It basically was nothing but a business decision and not a medical decision,” he said. “We believe this will only perpetuate the myth that omicron is not serious and not to be taken seriously. We believe it will also lessen the overall compliance with mask use.”

Rather than wearing a mask for five days after isolation, Miscovich said the message should be: “You should have been wearing a mask that whole time.”

Some health officials counter that the new state guidance acknowledges the waning immunity of initial vaccine series for COVID-19 while also helping protect Hawaii’s critical infrastructure.

On Thursday, the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 was 141 — up from 127 on Wednesday, according to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard, with 18 in intensive care and 10 on ventilators.

Government and health officials continue to emphasize the importance of getting boosted — a third dose for those who got Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and second one for those who got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. As of Thursday, 74.1% of Hawaii’s population completed vaccinations, and 24.7% had received a booster shot.

Since Dec. 2, when the state Department of Health announced the first confirmed case of omicron in Hawaii, the statewide daily count of new cases has shot up exponentially — from 126 on Dec. 2 to 3,484 on Thursday.

In November, the daily tally of Hawaii cases ranged from a low of 27 to a high of 226.

The trajectory of the current surge is dramatically steeper — and over a shorter time — compared with summer’s delta wave.

Worldwide, more than 1 million people a day on average are now being infected with the coronavirus, according to The New York Times, with the United States among countries leading the surge.

In the U.S., Hawaii is listed among “hotspot” states on the Times’ map, due to the fast-growing average of daily cases per 100,000 people this past week. What’s more, Honolulu and Maui counties have been recently denoted as “extremely high risk” areas for those not vaccinated against COVID-19.

DOH said the sharpest increase of cases in the past few weeks has been among residents ages 18 to 44. The boosted rates among those ages 18-24 and ages 25-39 are 10% and 14.3%, respectively.

Miscovich said restrictions should be placed on bars and nightclubs again, along with significant social distancing requirements within any indoor facility. In addition, large gatherings should not be allowed right now.

“We did nothing when we had a chance to put restrictions back in play,” said Miscovich, noting this would ideally have been before the holidays. “We missed our window, but it’s never too late. Now we are talking about so much potential loss of life and overwhelming our hospitals that you have to start somewhere.”

Additionally, on Thursday the seven-day average for new coronavirus cases statewide reached a new high of 1,752; and the seven-day average positivity rate — or number of people testing positive for COVID-19 — hit a record 14.1%. On Oahu, that seven-day rate positivity rate increased to a record of 16.3%.

The statewide positivity rate for Thursday alone was 18.6% out of an estimated 18,700 tests. No new virus- related fatalities were reported on Thursday, and Hawaii’s COVID-19 death toll remained at 1,085.

Hawaii daily COVID cases by Honolulu Star-Advertiser