Editor’s Note: Questions about stay-at-home orders can be submitted to tinyurl.com/TGIQ-A and The Garden Island staff will do our best to find you an answer by contacting county officials and Kauai District Health Officer Dr. Janet Berreman. Be aware these answers are informed with the latest directives from officials and can change as official rules and recommendations change. Contact the Hawai‘i Department of Health or your physician for official COVID-19 symptoms and steps to take if you think you have the virus.
Q: Is there community spread on Kaua‘i and if so where is it and why are we not being informed about it?
A: There is only one case of community spread on Kaua‘i, which was reported on April 4. As of April 15, there have been 21 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 4 of which are still active (three in-home isolation and one hospitalized).
Of the 21 cases, 17 have recovered or have been transferred to another jurisdiction.
Each day, Mayor Derek Kawakami releases a COVID-19 Update on the county’s Facebook page and on the county’s website at kauai.gov/COVID-19. On this website, there is a COVID-19 Epi Curve graph that shows exactly when each case was confirmed and its associated exposure.
Q: Can you please publish the daily visitor counts for tourists arriving on the island during this crisis, or direct readers to where we can find this information.
A: The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority releases passenger arrival numbers each morning for the day before with a breakdown of crew, resident, intended resident, visitors and in-transit.
In regards to this week, on April 14, there were no flights into Lihu‘e, and on April 13, there was one flight that brought in two crew members, eight residents and six visitors. Information for Wednesday was not updated at the time of publication.
More information can be found on the news section of hawaiitourismauthority.org.
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Sabrina Bodon, public safety and government reporter, can be reached at 245-0441 or sbodon@thegardenisland.com.
