Short-Term COVID Testing Program Set Up to Address HCCC Cluster

A free short-term community COVID-19 testing program will be set up by the County of Hawaiʻi to address the reported cluster at the Hawaiʻi Community Correctional Center (HCCC) in Hilo.

Testing will begin Wednesday, June 16, and continue through June 26. Tomorrow’s testing site will be at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, with subsequent testing sites to be determined. The public will be notified of any changes to testing locations. Currently, a total of 199 inmates and 19 staff have tested positive for the virus.

Testing is set to be administered on the following days:

Wednesday, June 16 and 23
Saturday, June 19 and 26

Aside from the concerns over the growing HCCC cluster, county leaders decided a short-term testing site was appropriate due to the overall increase in visitor arrivals, the lifting of inter-island flight restrictions and the increasing number of social gatherings due to graduation and other summer activities.

Testing and vaccinations will also be made available to HCCC staff/families upon request.

“At this time, we feel that setting up a testing program is the best way for us to gather data to ensure that our communities remain protected,” said Mayor Mitch Roth. “We are slowly beginning our return to normalcy, and ensuring that we don’t trip at the finish line is our number one priority. We would also like to remind residents that with the new variants becoming prevalent in the community that it is truly our kuleana to get vaccinated to keep our community healthy, happy, and safe as we begin our recovery towards a thriving Hawaiʻi Island.”