Hawaii Virus Tracker — Dec. 23: 107 New COVID-19 Cases and 3 Deaths
Health officials reported 107 new COVID-19 cases statewide on Wednesday, including 69 on Oahu, 15 on Maui, 13 on the Big Island and 10 Hawaii residents diagnosed out of state.
Three more COVID-19 deaths were recorded on Oahu, taking the official state death toll to 285. Civil Beat calculates at least 290 people have died from the disease in Hawaii, including five deaths on Hawaii island that are still pending medical verification by the state. Hawaii County Civil Defense has recorded 49 deaths on the Big Island. The deaths confirmed Wednesday included two women, one in her 50s and the other in her 70s, and a man in his 80s, state health officials said.
An average of 108 cases have been recorded on Oahu during the last week. Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said an outbreak at Halawa Correctional Facility has played a significant enough role in average case counts that he would omit inmate cases from the county’s reopening metric calculations. As of Wednesday, Oahu remained in Tier 2 despite its relatively high weekly average case count and 3.7% testing positivity rate this week.
The Department of Health includes cases at correctional facilities as part of its daily report but does not separate them out in its tally. The Department of Public Safety offers daily statistics on COVID-19 in Hawaii correctional facilities and reports 335 people have contracted the COVID-19 virus among the 2,181 people tested to date at Halawa Correctional Facility — a cumulative 15% positivity rate.
Reporting Lag
Civil Beat’s virus tracker is updated when the state releases its daily numbers. The state posts new data daily at noon. The daily reports reflect laboratory results collected up until 11:59 p.m. two days prior, leaving a 36-hour lag between when results are submitted to the Department of Health and when the state reports them publicly.
The health department, Hawaii National Guard and local nonprofit Project Vision Hawaii are conducting rapid testing daily at Halawa Correctional Facility. On Tuesday, six of 102 inmates tested at Halawa had positive results, along with three more staff members. State officials said the Oahu Community Correctional Center and the Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona are considered clear of the virus.
“Waiawa (Correctional Facility) hasn’t had a positive test result in almost two weeks,” Public Safety Department Director Max Otani said in a statement. “Halawa is in the middle of their surge testing but I am confident they are turning the corner and are bringing their situation under control.”
According to health department spokeswoman Janice Okubo, the COVID-19 case reports are based on test results from laboratories statewide and include both residents and tourists. Hawaii residents who test positive out of state also are included, as well as cases confirmed among military service members and their families, although military cases are not specifically identified.
There were 1,723 cases recorded during the past two weeks — a metric that the health department uses as a proxy to estimate how many people have active infections.
As of Tuesday, 61 COVID-19 patients were in Hawaii hospitals, with 15 people in intensive care units and 12 people using ventilators for breathing support.
More than three-quarters of COVID-19 related deaths seen in Hawaii to date were among people 60 years or older, yet the majority of cases diagnosed in Hawaii have been among people younger than 49. COVID-19 infections confirmed in people between the ages of 18 and 29 account for 24% of cases confirmed to date. Three people aged 18 to 29 have died.
For more information, check this Hawaii Department of Health COVID-19 site or this state site, and the Hawaii Data Collaborative COVID-19 Tracking site. The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency also provides this comprehensive dashboard.
By the Staff at Honolulu Civil Beat
https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/12/hawaii-virus-tracker-dec-23-107-new-cases/