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Mayor says many COVID cases in young people as island adds 13 new

There are 91 new cases of COVID-19 in the state today, bringing the state’s total to 13,764, with around 2,005 active cases.  The state is reporting 184 deaths.

There are 74 new cases on O’ahu, 2 new in Maui County, and 2 in Hawaii residents who are out of state.

The Big Island has 13 new cases, bringing the island’s total to 1,005, with around 223 active cases.  The island has lost 38 residents to COVID-19, but the state is so far only including 18 in its formal count.

In a conference call today with members of the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Harry Kim said he gets a daily report of all who have tested positive, and said many of the current cases are in young people, under 40–some as young as 2 years old!  He emphasized that wearing masks is not just the law, it’s good public health policy.

Kim said flagrant mask violators, those who refuse to comply with the law,  will be and have been arrested.  But he emphasized the wearing of masks is designed to protect others.

The County was given a donation of 1.8 million masks, worth around $1.8 million, by Salesforce, Inc. founder and CEO Marc Benioff, who has a home on the island.  Mayor Kim said all police officers have them to give away, and they’ve been distributed at some of the test sites, with around 800,000 of the 1.8 million already distributed.

Mayor Kim also talked about the second tests now being administered at the Kona, Hilo, and Waimea airports to all incoming trans-Pacific travelers.  If the travelers test negative via the rapid test, they may forgo the current mandatory 14-day travel quarantine, if they also have a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of boarding their flight to Hawaii.  He said Dr. Scott Miscovich was able to get a commitment to get all the tests the island and state need via Dr. Miscovich’s connection with the National Football League.  That program begins today.

Kim encourages everybody on the island to get tested at the “district” tests now being given around the island.  More than 40% of the people with COVID-19 have no obvious symptoms, and testing is a way to find people with COVID-19 and alert them so they can stay away from others and avoid inadvertently passing the virus.

The State’s noon report:

Hawaii County

Total Cases: 1,005
Released from Isolation: 744
Required Hospitalization: 54
Deaths: 18

 

Honolulu County

Total Cases: 12,249
Released from Isolation: 9,738
Required Hospitalization: 864
Deaths: 147

 

Kauai County

Total Cases: 59
Released from Isolation: 58
Required Hospitalization: 1
Deaths: 0

 

Maui County

Total Cases: 411
Released from Isolation: 375
Required Hospitalization: 57
Deaths: 18

 

Out of state

Total Cases: 40
Released from Isolation: 0
Required Hospitalization: 2
Deaths: 1

 

Pending

Total Cases: 0
Released from Isolation: 0
Required Hospitalization: 0
Deaths: 0

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