Hawaii COVID-19 positivity rate at 4.7%; 11 more deaths recorded

The Hawaii Department of Health on Wednesday reported 766 new COVID-19 infections over the past week, bringing the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 377,743.

DOH also reported 11 more deaths, bringing the state’s COVID death toll to 1,797.

The state’s seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, meanwhile, fell to 109 compared with 134 on Jan. 25. The state’s average positivity rate also declined to 4.7% compared with 6.0% the previous week.

The seven-day average is based on an earlier set of seven days (Jan. 21 to 27) than the week-over-week infection count (Jan. 24 to 30) because cases from the most recent three days may not have been reported yet.

Actual numbers are also estimated to be several times higher since these figures do not include unreported home test kit results.

The number of cases per 100,000 in the state fell to 7.7 compared with 9.5 the previous week.

By island, there were 532 cases reported on Oahu, 93 on Hawaii island, 90 on Maui, and 41 on Kauai. Another 10 infections were reported for Hawaii residents out of state.

Of the 11 deaths, one death was a male child under age 18 on the island of Kauai, and another a man in his 50s on Hawaii island, according to DOH’s mortality dashboard. Both were hospitalized. The rest were kupuna ages 70 and above on the islands of Oahu and Hawaii.

To date, 78.5% of Hawaii’s population has completed the primary series of COVID vaccinations, according to the Health Department.

A total of 279,897 residents, or 25.1% of the state’s eligible population, have received the bivalent booster.

Today, 57 COVID patients are hospitalized, with three in intensive care, according to the Healthcare Association of Hawaii. For the week, the daily average of COVID patients dropped to 57 compared with 82 per day the previous week.