Big Island Reaches ‘Community Spread’ Amid Surge

The Hawai´i Department of Health reported 436 new cases of coronavirus statewide Tuesday, bringing the overall total to 47,376. No new COVID-related deaths were reported.

A total of 76 new cases were identified on the Big Island Tuesday, where 1,174 cases are active and 25 individuals are hospitalized.

Hawai´i County Civil Defense also declared on Tuesday that the Big Island has officially reached the community spread level of viral infection. This means that residents may be exposed to coronavirus whenever they leave their homes. Civil Defense, as a result, has requested the public limit all activity outside the home to essential activity only.

The state’s two-week average is now 506 new cases daily, with a test positivity rate of 7.3%. A map documenting new cases by district across all islands can be accessed at the DOH website.

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

O‘ahu: 33,077
Hawai‘i: 4,819
Maui: 4,610
Kaua‘i: 658
Lana‘i: 114
Moloka‘i: 69
Pending: 0
Out-of-State: 1,842

A total of 2,851 individuals have been hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 infection since the pandemic began, while at least 543 have died.

To date, a total of 1,787,386 doses of the vaccine have been administered statewide, with 60.9% of the population fully vaccinated and 68.4% having received at least one shot.

Governor David Ige is holding a press conference on Tuesday, Aug. 10, at 1:30 pm to address the surge of COVID-19 and the resulting community spread throughout the state. The governor has already mentioned publicly that a return to some restrictions could be coming as early as this week, as hospital resources are stretched thin and many more serious cases of the illness are expected before the surge subsides.