LIHU‘E — Yesterday, the county reported one new COVID-19 case with no apparent link to travel.
Kaua‘i District Health Office confirmed the new case is an adult female resident employee with the Department of Education. While an investigation is ongoing, the office reported no close contacts with the district.
“The Department of Health worked closely with school leadership over the weekend and identified no close contacts at the school,” Mayor Derek Kawakami said Monday, as part of his Daily COVID-19 Update.
Over the weekend, the county also identified another positive case, an adult male, through the county’s post-travel test.
This case involves a resident who returned home from Mainland travel and received a quarantine exemption by testing negative prior to flying to Kaua‘i, through the State of Hawai‘i’s Safe Travels program, according to the county.
The county is offering free post-arrival COVID-19 tests to residents to take no sooner than 72 hours after arrival at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. To be eligible, one must bring their state identification and Mainland boarding pass.
For visitors, the county has post-arrival testing at American Medical Response in Lihu‘e. The test, which costs about $150, is incentivized with gift cards and vouchers to local restaurants and businesses.
“We feel significant protection will be gained with our voluntary test, taken three to 10 days after travel,” Kawakami added.
Dr. Janet Berreman, the Kaua‘i District Health Officer, said that while the 72-hour test is “not as strong as a 14-day quarantine, nor as strong as a seven-day quarantine with a test on day seven” is an added level of protection for the community.
Those infected with COVID-19, Berreman said, are most likely to test positive within five and seven days after exposure, but a positive result can take as long as two weeks.
“We think as a team that it is a reasonable compromise and that it will allow us to welcome visitors gradually to our island, and allow our residents to travel cautiously out-of-state,” Berreman said Monday.
Between these two cases, the District Health Office has identified eight close contacts, who have all moved into quarantine.
The Kaua‘i Police Department and the Hawai‘i National Guard are tracking more than 2,200 cases in travel-related quarantine.
The county currently has a cumulative case count of 62, including one probable case identified Oct. 18.
The state’s Department of Health reported 38 new positive COVID-19 cases Monday, and no new reported deaths. The state’s death toll remains at 212.
The new cases include one on Kaua‘i, two out of state, nine on Hawai‘i Island and the remaining 26 on O‘ahu. The state has a seven-day average of 88 cases. The state reported 3,053 infections active cases statewide as of Monday afternoon.
The state has seen a total of 14,709 cases to-date, with 79 of these cases being confirmed on Lanai.
Gov. David Ige approved a stay-at-home order for Lanai on Tuesday to slow the spread of the virus, which has included employees at a resort as well as elementary and high school students.
