Two New Cases of COVID-19 Confirmed on Big Island

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story indicated that there were only two cases of COVID-19 in Hawai‘i as of one week ago on Friday, March, 20, 2020. That figure is attributable to two weeks ago Friday, March 13, 2020. 

Evidence of community spread of COVID-19 is slowly but steadily appearing throughout the state of Hawai‘i.

The Department of Health on Friday confirmed 14 new cases of coronavirus across all islands, bringing the total up to 120. Two weeks ago, only two cases had been confirmed.

It was unclear as of noon Friday how many, if any, of the newly reported cases were as a result of community spread. However, a total of five cases have now been linked to community spread, with those infected showing no relevant travel history. Three of those cases are located on O‘ahu, two of them are linked to Maui.

Of the 14 new cases, two were announced on the Big Island, bringing Hawai‘i County’s total to seven.  O‘ahu reported the greatest number of new cases, with 10 more confirmations over the last 24 hours.

Cases by county:

• O‘ahu: 87
• Maui: 16
• Hawai‘i Island: 7
• Kaua‘i: 5
• Out of state diagnoses: 2
• Pending: 3

A total of eight people have been hospitalized in Hawai‘i as a result of COVID-19 infection. No deaths related to the coronavirus had been confirmed as of noon Friday.

DOH has stressed as a reminder to the community that most new cases are residents of the state. A travel-related quarantine for the islands went into effect Thursday, the looming inevitability of which was a factor in what Gov. David Ige said was an 87% drop in arrivals Tuesday, March 24, the last day full data was available.