Higher COVID Case Count Today Partially Due to Historic Cases

The Hawai‘i Department of Health reported 106 new cases of coronavirus Saturday, raising the statewide total to 27,503. Two new COVID-related deaths were reported. The higher case count reported today, officials say, is due partially to uncounted older cases.

The state’s two-week average is 50 new cases daily, with a test positivity rate of 1.2%.

Thirty-one of Saturday’s cases from Maui were not previously confirmed due to a laboratory reporting issue. These cases occurred between Nov. 29, 2020, and Feb. 18, 2021. These cases are not included in the current 7-day averages.

The DOH Disease Outbreak and Control Division (DOCD) is receiving new electronic test results from a Maui testing site, resulting in approximately 16,500 newly reported historic negative results from November to now, included in Maui and statewide testing counts.

These statistics are reflected on DOCD’s COVID-19 website here.

The higher case counts on Maui also include 19 positive cases that are part of a current cluster at Maui Community Correctional Center and a cluster at a community housing complex. Community spread is also the cause of smaller clusters related to food and drink establishments. Contact tracing, isolation and quarantine measures are being used to control these clusters. Vaccination is being offered at MCCC and in areas where outbreaks are a concern.

Lorrin Pang, the DOH Maui District Health Officer, expressed concern about community spread and urged everyone to take these rising case numbers on the Valley Island very seriously.

“We really need to ramp up compliance to safety protocols or the alternative would be really high case numbers in the coming week, possibly resulting in tighter restrictions,” Pang said.

He and other public health experts are appealing to people across Hawai‘i to mask up, practice social distancing, and wash hands frequently, even as restrictions in some places are being relaxed.

The island-by-island case count is as follows:

O‘ahu: 21,913
Hawai‘i: 2,240
Maui: 2,196
Kaua‘i: 183
Lana‘i: 108
Moloka‘i: 27
Pending: 0
Out-of-State: 836

A total of 1,865 individuals have been hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 infection since the pandemic began, while at least 439 people have died.

The state’s virus tracker, which maps cases by district across all islands, can be accessed here.