HAWAII VIRUS TRACKER — Dec. 17: 142 New COVID-19 Cases And 2 Deaths

The governor has shortened the mandatory quarantine period for Hawaii-bound travelers.

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Health officials reported 142 on Thursday, along with two fatalities.

Among the cases recorded Thursday were 113 on Oahu, 16 on the Big Island, seven on Maui, one on Kauai and five Hawaii residents diagnosed out of state.

One fatality was recorded on Oahu and the other was a Big Island death that had already been reported by Hawaii County Civil Defense. More details about the latest deaths are expected Thursday afternoon.

The official is 280. Civil Beat calculates at least 285 people have died from the disease in Hawaii, including five deaths on Hawaii island that are still pending medical verification by the state. has recorded 49 deaths on the Big Island.

Reporting Lag

Civil Beat’s virus tracker is updated when the state releases its daily numbers. The state posts new data daily at noon. The daily reports reflect laboratory results collected up until 11:59 p.m. two days prior, leaving a 36-hour lag between when results are submitted to the Department of Health and when the state reports them publicly.

On Thursday Gov. David Ige officially shortened the state’s mandatory self-quarantine period for Hawaii-bound travelers from 14 to 10 days, following new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ige also extended the moratorium on evictions for non-payment of rent through Feb. 14, but vehicle safety certifications are no longer suspended.

An outbreak at an Oahu correctional facility continues to influence Oahu’s weekly case and testing rates — two metrics that determine when the island will loosen some COVID-19 restrictions. Nine more cases were reported Wednesday afternoon at marking at least 179 cases associated with it to date. Approximately 1,633 people at Halawa have been tested.

Oahu remains in The island’s case rate increased Thursday from a weekly average of 84 to 93, and 3.4% of tests conducted on the island were positive. The island must see a testing positivity rate of , which would loosen some restrictions.

According to Janice Okubo, spokeswoman for the Hawaii Department of Health, the COVID-19 case reports are based on test results from laboratories statewide and include both residents and tourists.

Hawaii residents who test positive out of state also are included, as well as cases confirmed among military service members and their families, although military cases are not specifically identified.

If a visitor takes a test outside of Hawaii, those test results are reported to the home state and would not be reflected in the Hawaii’s reports. In some cases, rapid point-of-care testing results are not submitted to the health department and are not included in these daily reports either.

There were 1,468 cases recorded during the past two weeks — a metric that the health department uses as a proxy to estimate how many people have active infections.

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

Cases, Deaths And COVID-19 Testing In Hawaii

19,731
COVID-19 Cases
285
Deaths
753,607
Tests performed
Source: ,

Honolulu’s 7-Day Averages


Current Tier*
93
Daily Case Count
3.4%
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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