LIHU‘E — Over Thursday and Friday, the state Department of Health Kaua‘i District Health Office reported five new COVID-19 cases on the island.
Two new positive cases of COVID-19 were announced on Thursday and three Friday morning.
“We currently have 12 active cases on Kaua‘i. Three are in the hospital and all are in isolation,” Mayor Derek Kawakami said Friday during his daily COVID-19 update.
The DOH has 20 people in quarantine as close contacts of these active cases.
”That number is expected to increase with additional contact tracing,” Kawakami said. ”Eleven of 12 active cases are associated with travel, and one is a Kaua‘i resident who has frequent contact with travelers.”
One new case is a female resident who is a close contact of a current case. The second is a male traveler who participated in the state’s pre-travel testing program but received an inconclusive test result and re-tested while on-island. The third recent case is a male resident with no known travel history but who has had frequent contact with visitors, according to a press release.
“We are deeply concerned about the rise in our active case count, and we continue to ramp up testing opportunities,” said Kawakami.
Four of the island’s 12 active cases are not be reflected in Kaua‘i’s cumulative case count, which is 71 plus one probable case. That is because these travelers participated in the state’s pre-travel program but received their positive test result after arrival on Kaua‘i. Case counts are reflected in the county of origin.
All active cases are in isolation and three are hospitalized, according to the county. Contact tracing investigations continue.
Kaua‘i Police Department and the National Guard are tracking approximately 1,800 individuals in travel-related quarantine.
Health officials reported 122 new coronavirus infections statewide Friday, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 15,691.
Friday’s new cases in Hawai‘i included 87 on O‘ahu, 21 on Hawai‘i Island, six on Maui, six Hawai‘i residents diagnosed outside of Hawai‘i, and one case each on Kaua‘i and Lana‘i, according to the DOH.
For more information on the state’s COVID-19 cases or the state’s Safe Travels program, visit hawaiicovid19.com. For more information on the post-travel testing program, visit kauai.gov/COVID-19.
