The Hawaii Department of Health today reported the state’s seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases fell to 70 compared with 89 on Feb. 15.

The department also reported 12 more deaths, bringing the state’s coronavirus-related death toll since the start of the pandemic to 1,834.

DOH did not provide case counts or metrics last Wednesday due to an ongoing upgrade of its “disease surveillance system infrastructure.”

Updates resumed today, and DOH said counts from the previous week would be included in today’s update, with no gap in data.

The state’s average positivity rate fell to 4.4% compared with 4.7% on Feb. 15.

The department reported 998 new COVID-19 infections over the past two weeks, bringing the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 380,098.

Actual numbers are 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 4.9 compared with 6.3 on Feb. 15.

By island, there were 685 more cases reported on Oahu, 130 on Hawaii island, 86 on Maui, 54 on Kauai, six on Molokai, and two on Lanai. Another 35 infections were reported for Hawaii residents out of state.

To date, 78.6% of Hawaii’s total population has completed the primary series of COVID vaccinations, according to the Health Department.

A total of 288,425 residents, representing 25.8% of the state’s eligible population, have received the updated bivalent booster.

As of today, 37 COVID patients are hospitalized, with just one in intensive care, continuing a downward trend, according to the Healthcare Association of Hawaii. For the week, the daily average of COVID patients dropped to 39 compared with 47 per day the previous week.