State averages over 300 COVID-19 cases in 3 days | News, Sports, Work

Technicians will process the COVID-19 test in South Maui in August 2020. State officials expressed concern on Friday about the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, but said school reopening continued on schedule and new restrictions were not currently planned. — Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER Photo

With an average of more than 300 COVID-19 cases per day in Hawaii over the past three days, Governor David Ige said the school continued to teach and the state is currently 70% without new restrictions. He said he would move towards immunization standards.

The State Department of Health reported 622 new cases on Friday — 588 confirmed and potentially 34 — the day before a malfunction in the state’s electronic testing reporting system delayed the counting of some cases. There were 85 reports on Wednesday and 234 reports on Thursday. ..

“On average, we’ve seen more than 300 cases per day in the last three days, and the trend is clearly higher than it was a week or two ago. That’s what we actually do. What I’m doing. “I’m most worried.” Dr. Libby Char, Secretary of Health, said at a press conference on Friday.

The 622 cases reported on Friday included 359 on Oahu, 111 on the Big Island, 74 on Maui, 8 on Kauai, and 70 out-of-state residents. I did. This includes 30,406 on Oahu, 5,281 in Maui County (5,083 on Maui, 117 on Lanai, 81 on Molokai), 3,905 on the Big Island, and 539 on Kauai. The number of cases was 41,925. A total of 1,749 inhabitants were diagnosed as out-of-state.

According to Ministry of Health data, Hawaii increased by 148% from an average of 93 cases a day on July 15 to 230 cases a day on Wednesday. Maui County increased 160% from an average of 9.1 daily on July 15 to 23.7 on Wednesday. Kauai is the only county that hasn’t seen a surge in the last two weeks, with an average daily number of cases decreasing by 30% from 8 to 5.6.

The state’s uptrend reflects other parts of the country as highly contagious delta variants pass through the community. According to Char, this is the predominant mutant in Hawaii, accounting for about 55 percent of all cases undergoing state-sequencing.

Trends vary by county, with 77% of all cases sequenced in Hawaii County consisting of delta variants as of July 3, according to the latest Ministry of Health variant report released on July 20. .. In Maui County, Delta variants are configured. Thirty-three percent of all sequenced cases are associated with the most common strain of the B.1.1.7 variant that originated in the United Kingdom. The first B.1.351 variant discovered in South Africa is the predominant strain in Honolulu County in 51% of cases. The most common strain in Kauai County is the first mutant found in the United Kingdom in 71% of cases.

The surge in vaccinations in winter and spring was consistent with a decline in cases, but Hawaii’s vaccination efforts have recently slowed and the state is unable to meet its goals.

“We predicted that if we maintain 15,000 weekly vaccinations, we could achieve a 70% vaccination rate in early September.” Governor David Ige said on Friday. “Obviously, it’s behind schedule. I believed it would reach 60% in early July, but here at the end of July, I finally got 60% vaccinated.”

The state began allowing vaccinated travelers in the United States to bypass pre-travel inspection and quarantine from July 8 when the state was expected to reach a threshold of 60%. rice field. Ige states that when the state reaches 70%, the SafeTravels program and social gathering restrictions will end.

Hawaii has achieved a vaccination rate of 60.1% as of Friday, with Honolulu County leading the vaccination process with 62% of all residents, followed by 60% in Kauai County and Hawaii County. It was 56% and 54% in Maui County. Ige said it has no plans to change the 70% benchmark at this time. “Still, it’s a good goal and goal to drive.”

However, if cases continue to grow, Hawaii may reinstate some restrictions.Ise is in a state “Continuous communication with hospitals” They monitor the number of cases they are treating and the number of patients using intensive care units and ventilators. The number of cases is increasing in hospitals. For example, the Maui Memorial Medical Center announced Thursday that it is treating 18 COVID-positive patients and will stop most visits starting today.

“The surge in COVID cases keeps hospital managers and me awake at night.” Ise said. “If we have enough capacity at the moment, but we can’t stop the growth of COVID cases, at some point, yes, here we need to re-enact the limits to slow the spread of COVID-19. . “

Despite the fact that 25% of the 622 cases reported on Friday were children, the state is proceeding with a face-to-face school reopening next week, saying it has taken as many steps as possible to prevent the infection. increase.

“Everything comes with risk” Char said. “But I think we must also recognize that there are no children in school, and that it is costly for children to lag further behind learning and continued social isolation. Therefore, we are all. And when trying to make schools as safe as possible, the Ministry of Health is working very closely with the Ministry of Education to introduce mitigation factors to make schools safer. The approach we have taken is to understand what the core measures are and what we can add to them. “

According to Char, the main objectives are vaccination, followed by indoor masking, staying at home when ill, washing hands, improving ventilation indoors, and keeping children out when possible. Is to take it out.

“Probably not all schools will adopt all the recommendations, but the more schools that can be adopted, the more they will only add a layer of safety.” Char said.

She admitted that cases of COVID were inevitable and expected thousands of children and staff to return, but added that. “We are also trying to structure it so that it minimizes the amount of spread in any setting.”

Ige emphasized that the pandemic was not over and urged residents to be vaccinated. The state is considering President Joe Biden’s $ 100 vaccination incentive proposal and is also appreciating the federal government’s plan to require federal workers to be vaccinated or regularly inspected. Said.

“We are certainly trying to assess and understand what the federal government is doing to federal employees and contractors.” Ise said. “So we’re working to get information about how they implement and what parameters and requirements they have, and certainly we’re about state and county employees. We are discussing. “

Ise has already said the residents “Know what it takes to control COVID-19 in our community.” I’ve dealt with it for a year and a half.

“When we are sick, we are at home, and when we are sick, we keep our children at home.” He said. “It’s about washing your hands and using hand sanitizers. It’s about wearing a mask when we’re indoors, especially when we’re outdoors or at a rally, and we can’t maintain a physical distance of 6 feet. We know that these actions, which you can take individually and collectively as a community, can help delay the spread of COVID-19. “

* Colleen Uechi can be contacted at [email protected].