VIRUS TRACKER — Aug. 16: 220 New Cases As Surge Continues
Most of the cases were on Oahu, where officials are battling an outbreak in the state’s largest jail.
State health officials reported 220 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, including 14 in Maui County and four on Hawaii island. The rest were on Oahu.
There have been 5,042 cases of COVID-19 in Hawaii. Of those cases, 6% have required hospitalization and 93% were residents, according to the Department of Health.
The continued high case count in Hawaii comes as the state’s largest jail deals with an outbreak.
The departments of Public Safety and Health conducted mass testing of all OCCC inmates in each of the 19 individual housing units there, according to a news release Saturday. Of 104 inmate test results returned Saturday, 42 were positive and 62 negative. All remaining inmates will be tested in the coming days, the release says.
The Department of Public Safety has also received test results for 124 facility staff — nine were positive, 114 were negative and one was inconclusive. The department has posted more information .
DPS director Nolan Espinda has said that corrections workers have sometimes cut short what is supposed to be a mandatory 14-day quarantine for inmates when they are first admitted to OCCC. And internal memos for Maui Community Correctional Center show the facility has only been adhering to a five-day quarantine period.
That quarantine is supposed to last for the two-week incubation period for COVID-19 to prevent the spread of the virus inside the facility. But Espinda said overcrowding in the unit where the prisoners were quarantined at OCCC prompted jail staff to move some prisoners out into the general population early.
On Saturday, the Department of Land and Natural Resources, in cooperation with the City and County of Honolulu, announced that the popular Waimea Rock on Oahu’s North Shore was closing immediately due to large groups gathering at the rock to jump into the ocean.
Gov. David Ige said Thursday that the state may need to push back its planned Sept. 1 date for reopening the state to tourists with a modified quarantine.
The state has seen an average of 222 new daily cases over the last seven days, and recorded more cases so far in August than all prior months combined.
For more information, check and .
Cases, Deaths And COVID-19 Testing In Hawaii
COVID-19 Cases
Deaths
Tests Administered
Hawaii COVID-19 Cases By County
Daily New COVID-19 Cases
Number Of Confirmed COVID–19 Cases In U.S.
COVID-19 Cases Worldwide
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