VIRUS TRACKER — Aug. 27: 306 New COVID-19 Cases In Hawaii And 4 Deaths
The increasing rate of spread on Oahu has led the federal government to start a two-week surge testing campaign on the island.
Hawaii health officials reported four COVID-19 related deaths Thursday, along with 306 new cases verified across the islands.
Three women and one man on Oahu died, taking the state’s COVID-19 related fatality count to 55. All were older than 70 years old and had been been hospitalized with underlying medical conditions.
Ten new COVID-19 cases were verified on Hawaii island, seven on Maui, and the remaining 289 cases on Oahu. An average of nearly 250 new COVID-19 cases have been verified daily during the last week, with the bulk of them on Oahu. Since March, the greatest proportion of people diagnosed with COVID-19 were between 18 and 39 years old.
Many of the recent cases on Maui have been associated with a cluster at Maui Memorial Medical Center. Tracy Dallarda, MMMC spokeswoman, said no new cases were found among hospital patients or staff Thursday, but the hospital is currently caring for 30 hospitalized COVID-19 patients and another 38 health care workers have been diagnosed. Maui’s Hale Makua Health Services is caring for one COVID-19 positive asymptomatic elderly resident in isolation in Kahului facility. The two cases found there this month prompted Hale Makua to test 23 residents and 61 staff, all of whom had tests that returned negative, according to CEO Wesley Lo.
On Oahu, people turned out in droves Wednesday and Thursday to get tested as part of a federally-funded testing drive that aims to test as many as 60,000 people in the next two weeks. People various locations during the next two weeks, but don’t need an appointment to get tested.
The uncontrolled community spread of the disease on Oahu prompted the island’s latest two-week stay-at-home order, which went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday and triggered closures of businesses including hair salons and gyms. Child care, construction, health care and some educational and religious services will be allowed to remain open.
“Case investigators continue to see COVID-19 clusters involving parties or gatherings in private homes such as birthday parties, funerals, get-togethers and religious gatherings,” a state COVID-19 response spokesman said Thursday afternoon in a statement. “These gatherings have no masking and no distancing and mostly involve families and friends.”
A new report from says the auditor’s office “encountered barriers, delays, and ultimately were denied access to those responsible for leading the department’s contact tracing.” The department has been criticized for failing to hire enough contact tracers before the second wave of infection, which was expected to come after businesses and activities resumed after the state’s first shut down in March.
The City and County of Honolulu is planning to hire between 250 and 500 contact tracers to supplement state efforts to tamp down COVID-19 on Oahu.
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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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