Average COVID positivity rate on continued decline in Hawaii

The average COVID-19 positivity rate and hospitalizations for Hawaii continued to decline on the first of February, according to statistics from the state Department of Health.

These encouraging signs come in the wake of a White House announcement that national emergencies addressing the pandemic will come to an end May 11.

While COVID-19 vaccines and antiviral treatments like Paxlovid will still remain free on May 12, according to Dr. Ashish Jha, White House COVID- 19 Response Coordinator in a tweet, there will be at some point a transition from government-distributed vaccines and treatments to those purchased through the regular health care system.

“Access to free vaccines and treatments doesn’t go away,” wrote Jha. “And over time, as we transition this to the regular healthcare system, [we] are going to make sure that COVID vaccines and treatments remain accessible and affordable for Americans.”

On Tuesday, Jha tweeted that the emergencies would be ending “because we’re in a better place” and “we’re getting through this winter without a big surge or run on hospitals” and “because we have the tools to manage this virus.”

On Wednesday, the Hawaii Department of Health said the state’s seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases fell to 109 from 134 on Jan. 25.

The state’s average positivity rate also declined to 4.7% — the first dip below 5.0% since mid-April — compared with 6.0% the previous week. The average positivity rate, or percentage of tests that are positive, has been declining for consecutive weeks since the start of 2023.

The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized fell to a weekly average of 57 per day versus 82 per day the previous week.

DOH, however, also reported 11 more deaths, bringing the state’s COVID-19 death toll to 1,797.

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

Nationally, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are also on a downward trend, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, also known as “the Kraken,” meanwhile, has grown to dominance in the U.S. The latest CDC Nowcast model estimates XBB.1.5 makes up 61.3% of cases in the U.S., compared to 21.8% for BQ.1.1 and 9.3% for BQ.1.

According to DOH’s variant report, published Tuesday, XBB.1.5 makes up about 9% of sequenced variants in Hawaii based on specimens for the two-week period ending Jan. 14.

Interest in COVID-19 vaccinations, meanwhile, has waned.

Just 16,876 doses were administered in January, a new monthly low since they were offered, and about half of the 32,250 doses administered in December. That’s a huge drop from 105,271 in October and 53,319 in November.

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