VIRUS TRACKER — Nov. 12: 97 New COVID-19 Cases; Clusters Traced To Schools

In the last two weeks, people in Hawaii have caught the virus at college parties, elementary and intermediate schools and on shared lunch breaks.

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Hawaii health officials reported 97 new COVID-19 cases statewide on Thursday, and revealed new details about where people have been catching the virus in the last two weeks.

The new cases recorded Thursday included 72 on Oahu, 15 in Hawaii County, six on Maui and one on Kauai. Three were residents diagnosed out of state.

VIRUS TRACKER UPDATE

Civil Beat’s virus tracker is updated when the state releases its daily numbers. The state is now posting the numbers at 3 p.m.

The health department is now providing weekly reports about situations where the virus has spread to multiple people.

Schools have been linked to several clusters during the past two weeks, officials said Thursday.

One outbreak at an Oahu intermediate school required health officials to contact more than 100 people. Officials believe the outbreak started after a student with the virus attended class in multiple rooms over the course of a day.

The school imposed a two-week quarantine for all students and teachers who shared a classroom with the sick student, state health officials reported. Only one other student tested positive for the virus.

Other clusters have been traced to college student parties in dormitories, at least one of which was a Halloween party.

Another case cluster was documented among four custodian and cafeteria workers who ate meals together.

There have been 1,397 new cases reported statewide in the last two weeks. Health officials use the number of cases reported in the past 14 days as a rough approximation of the number of active cases, or people who could still be infectious.

The daily case numbers are based on test results from laboratories statewide. The numbers include lab results from both residents and tourists. Since March, 95% of cases diagnosed in the islands have been among residents.

Increases in the average number of daily cases on Oahu will likely . Gatherings of up to 10 people would be allowed in Tier 3, but Oahu must of 49 or fewer daily cases, and a seven-day average positivity rate below 2.49% for two weeks straight.

Civil Beat calculates at least 239 people have died from the disease in Hawaii including 17 deaths on Hawaii island that have not been recorded yet by the Department of Health due to medical verification lags. The statewide official death toll remains 222.

A post-arrival testing program of 15,000 residents and visitors who arrived in Hawaii from out of state during the last month found just 19 tested positive for COVID-19 after a second test, .

For more information, check or , and . The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency also provides this

Cases, Deaths And COVID-19 Testing In Hawaii

16,302
COVID-19 Cases
239
Deaths
584,937
Tests performed
Source:

Honolulu’s 7-Day Averages


Current Tier*
82
Daily Case Count
3.0%
Test Positivity
Source: * The current case numbers and test positivity rate may not correlate with the metrics set for a specific tier as the county must spend at least four consecutive weeks in a tier and meet the metrics for the next tier before advancing, according to the reopening plan. More information of the City and County of Honolulu’s reopening strategy as well as details of the restrictions of , , and can be found at

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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