Hawaii records 1 new coronavirus-related death, 64 additional cases
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / JUNE 1
Beachgoers take cover under umbrellas chairs in front of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki. Gov. David Ige announced Friday he would remove all travel restrictions once Hawaii hits the goal of 70% vaccinated statewide. As of Thursday, 52% of the state’s population has been vaccinated, according to state health data.
Hawaii Department of Health officials today reported one new coronavirus-related death and 64 new confirmed and probable infections statewide, bringing the state’s total since the start of the pandemic to 502 fatalities and 36,535 cases.
The latest death was an Oahu woman in her 60s who was hospitalized with underlying health conditions, according to an email from the state health officials. No further details were immediately available.
Hawaii’s virus-related death toll hit 500 on Sunday when state officials counted the death of an Oahu woman in her 50s. Despite the milestone, Hawaii’s virus fatality rate remains the lowest in the nation at roughly 35 deaths per 100,000 residents.
The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 389 fatalities on Oahu, 55 on Maui, 53 on Hawaii island, two on Kauai, and three Hawaii residents who died outside the state.
The U.S. coronavirus-related death toll today is over 597,000 and the nationwide infection tally is more than 33.3 million.
Today’s new confirmed and probable infection count by island includes 41 new cases on Oahu, 13 on Maui, nine on Hawaii island and one on Kauai.
The total number of confirmed and probable coronavirus cases by island since the start of the outbreak are 27,274 on Oahu, 4,483 on Maui, 3,005 in Hawaii County, 325 on Kauai, 115 on Lanai and 79 on Molokai. There are also 1,254 Hawaii residents who were diagnosed outside of the state.
State health officials began including probable infections in its total case counts last month. 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.
>> RELATED: Gov. David Ige eases Hawaii travel restrictions on intercounty travel
Today’s probable infections since the start of the pandemic added to the counts today include 799 on Maui, 744 on Oahu, 65 on Hawaii island, 24 on Molokai, three on Kauai, three on Lanai and 48 residents diagnosed outside the state.
The statistics released today reflect the new infection cases reported to the department on Friday.
Health officials also said today that, of the state’s total infection count, 671 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 decreased today by 23.
By island, Oahu has 410 active cases, the Big Island has 165, Maui has 84, Kauai has nine, Molokai has three and Lanai has none.
Health officials counted 5,971 new COVID-19 test results in today’s tally, for a 1.07% statewide positivity rate. The state’s 7-day average positivity rate is 1.1%, according to the Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard.
The latest Hawaii COVID-19 vaccine summary said that 1,553,304 vaccine doses have been administered through state and federal distribution programs as of Wednesday. Health officials say that more than 52% of the state’s population are now fully vaccinated.
Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 2,355 have required hospitalizations, with four new hospitalizations reported today.
Ten hospitalizations in the overall statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 2,345 hospitalizations within the state, 1,946 have been on Oahu, 259 on Maui, 125 on the Big Island, nine on Kauai, five on Lanai and one on Molokai.
According to the latest information from the department’s Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard, a total of 36 patients with the virus were in Hawaii hospitals as of Friday, with 10 in intensive care units and seven on ventilators.
Oahu moved into the less-restrictive Tier 3 of the city’s four-tier economic recovery plan on Feb. 25 after being in Tier 2 since Oct. 22. Tier 3 permits social and outdoor recreational gatherings of up to 10 people, and restaurants to seat 10 people at a table. Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi on March 11 announced modifications to Tier 3, including allowing bars to reopen under the same conditions as restaurants and extending the curfew until midnight.
Honolulu will remain in Tier 3 of the city’s COVID-19 reopening framework until at least Thursday, according to the mayor’s office. But Blangiardi said last week that Honolulu should soon be moving to Tier 4.
This breaking news story will be updated as more information becomes available.
