Officials Halt Visitation at Hilo Veterans Home Over COVID Concerns

The Yukio Okutsu Veterans Home on the Big Island has temporarily suspended visitation following an employee receiving a positive COVID-19 test, Hawaii News Now reported on Thursday night.

Health officials said the test result was a false positive. However, the home decided to halt visitations out of an abundance of caution while the State Department of Health retests all staff members for coronavirus.

The staff member in question works with food preparation and does not have direct contact with those who live in the home. The employee has also been fully vaccinated, though a small percentage of people who are can still become infected with symptomatic COVID-19.

Yukio was hit harder by the pandemic than any other single entity in Hawai´i. A total of 71 residents there came down with COVID-19. Twenty-seven of them died from the ensuing complications.

As part of safety protocols, the home announced it would not be accepting new residents until its investigation into the false positive is complete.