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Hawaii records 4 new coronavirus-related deaths, 2,710 additional infections

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                A healthcare worker initiates a COVID-19 rapid antigen test collected at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on Friday, Dec. 31.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM

A healthcare worker initiates a COVID-19 rapid antigen test collected at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on Friday, Dec. 31.

Hawaii Department of Health officials today reported four new coronavirus-related deaths and 2,710 new confirmed and probable infections statewide, bringing the state’s totals since the start of the pandemic to 1,094 fatalities and 115,642 cases.

Two deaths were reported on Oahu, one on Hawaii island and one on Molokai. No further information was immediately available regarding the latest deaths.

The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 805 fatalities on Oahu, 153 on Hawaii island, 105 on Maui, 18 on Kauai, two 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 825,000 and the nationwide infection tally is more than 54.7 million.

>> RELATED: Hawaii’s COVID cases show no signs of slowing in new year

Today’s new confirmed and probable infection count by island includes 2,085 new cases on Oahu, 195 on Hawaii island, 335 on Maui, 77 on Kauai, 12 on Molokai, three on Lanai, and three 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 82,169 on Oahu, 13,312 on Hawaii island, 12,218 on Maui, 4,046 on Kauai, 373 on Molokai, and 165 on Lanai. There are also 3,359 Hawaii residents who were diagnosed outside of the state.

Health officials also said today that, of the state’s total infection count, 23,080 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 1,952.

By island, Oahu has 19,319 active cases, the Big Island has 1,284, Maui has 1,638, Kauai has 703, Molokai has 116, and Lanai has 20.

The seven-day average case count for Oahu is 1,691 and the seven-day average positivity rate is 18.7%, state health officials said today.

The latest Hawaii COVID-19 vaccine summary says 2,536,610 vaccine doses have been administered through state and federal distribution programs as of Friday, up 6,630 from a day earlier. Health officials say that 74.2% of the state’s population is now fully vaccinated, with 79.7% having received at least one dose and 25% three doses.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 5,280 have required hospitalizations, with seven new hospitalizations reported today.

Thirty hospitalizations in the overall statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 5,250 hospitalizations within the state, 4,020 have been on Oahu, 643 on Maui, 464 on the Big Island, 107 on Kauai, 11 on Molokai, and five on Lanai.

A total of 157 patients were hospitalized, 58 of which were vaccinated, according to Facebook post from Lt. Gov. Josh Green.

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