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.
You hear that? That’s the sound of COVID-19 on Kauai.
Aloha no! Good luck with that!
Kaua’i Boy Mainland,
Does the limited info in the article frighten you? What they are not telling you is that all those 15,591 positive cases are all healthy, have immunity to the virus and are no longer contagious so they cannot spread the virus just like the 100,000 who are positive residents in Hawaii on all island and were asymptomatic, meaning they never had symptoms, thus were never tested, but are now also non contagious. They are the Lucky ones, we should all be so lucky and non contagious.
And we should welcome to Hawaii all the other 2-3 week already positive people to the state, they have immunity which is self protection from any new surge or re-infection of the virus and are also non-contagious.
Withholding the full truth from us adds to the unnecessary fear of the virus.
Let the covid19 virus naturally run its course and it will fade away like viruses do every other year.
We need way more than luck!!
Luck in this case is just a figure of speech.
Immunity does not require luck, it is a process and only needs to run its natural course.
So Kawakami literally prostrates himself to Big Tourism, knowing full well that it would cause massive community spread of the virus, and NOW he’s concerned? This guy is either an idiot or totally corrupt.
Prostrates John? You forget about the thousands of people who depend on tourism for their livelihoods. This virus is not going away anytime soon. It’s time to move forward. You can hide in a hole. We all need to get to work.
Aloha Mayor Derek,
Positive cases are a good sign and nothing to get upset over, all those positive cases 2 to 3 weeks after they became infected, their immune system produced enough antibodies to have deactivated all the Covid-19 virus in their body and thus that person without active covid-19 virus is no longer contagious, and they have the left over antibodies able to immediately attack any new virus covid-19 virus entering their body on a 2nd wave of virus or random contact exposure.
Of course it is important to protect the high risk elderly with pre-existing diseases and who are under medical care taking the high risk prescription drugs (see the TV Ads). These elderly should be quarantined and even isolated for their own protection. It is reasonable for them to, even though it is unfounded as helpful to wear masks and socially distance 6’. But it is unreasonable to put people out of work for the few elderly who are high risk because they are truly at the end of their lives.
The other people, especially those who are active and healthy, including the young have proven by statistics that the disease is irrelevant to them.
On the other hand this disease has proven to be a senior citizen disease for those on chronic degenerative diseases coupled with powerful prescription drugs. It is these seniors that are proving to pass away from their long term diseases and prescription drugs because they have been weakened by age, their decades long diseases and the decades long prescription drugs.
It’s a powerful and deadly mix, old age, pre existing diseases, powerful prescription drugs, and the flu, bringing people to their final day of life, year after year for the same reason.
With any virus, you can run, but you cannot hide. There is no mask that can stop this more than microscopic virus, and virus are able to soar with the winds they are so tiny, so 6’ separation is futile.
As well the virus test by polymerization is designed not for disease diagnosis but only to magnify tiny fragments of DNA, not in order to detect the whole DNA of a virus but just random fragments for purposes unrelated to Covid-19. The trouble of a false positive is that the test will pick up the same DNA fragments that are in chicken and papaya, This when the poly test picks up any fragment of DNA that the virus and other things also have even though the DNA fragment is not an actual fragment of the Covid-19 DNA, and even so when the DNA remnants are of a chicken or a papaya, besides chicken papaya is a popular meal in Hawai’i that can falsely lead to a Covid-19 positive test reading. And we all have to admit that both chicken and papaya are popular breakfast and dinner items.
Furthermore you are being advised by people in the profession that depends on perpetuation of disease to make their income, while they are not conspirators per se, their philosophy of service is to sell carcinogenic petrochemicals as prescription drugs, instead of providing Health Care that actually restores health amd me. They are not the best profession to ask for advice when they have increased incomes the longer the virus is in circulation.
You must understand that when enough people become positive, whether tested or not, they will develop immunity within 2 to 3 weeks and what accompanies that is Non-Contgion to others.
Being Non-Contagious means being part of Herd Immunity and the important step to a dwindling annual, or epidemic, or pandemic. Preventing spread to healthy immune system strong people goes against ridding communities and populations of the viru.
The law of opposites means that no herd immunity, or not enough positive Covid-19 people, whether tested or not, results in perpetuation of the virus spread and further fatalities of the elderly with diseases and prescription drugs overwhelming their bodies.
People only choose prescription drugs because that is all they are offered. Doctors are not used to patients getting well, they are used to giving patients more prescription drugs when they renew their prescriptions decade after decade.
The medical, the pharmacists, the pharmaceutical industry, the petrochemical industry right down to the petroleum they are made from, these millionaires to billionaires do not want this virus to go away anytime soon.
However by your choice as our Mayor along with the Governor, you have kept kids from school, closed businesses, put 40% of the people out of work, homes are being lost to foreclosure, and suicides have increased, young people are depressed, infants and children are not socially developing unable to see facial expressions, youth are not seeing their significant other meant to be their lifetime future co-parent, and the list of deprivations goes on because you are listening to those who capitalize on disease ro make a living.
Those same people sell 4.4 Billion prescription drugs per year at a $4 Trillion joint income.
Better to to let all businesses reopen and put all people back to work and use their taxes to take care of the high risk elderly in a manner geared to getting them well.
Another disservice of Fear Mongering, put on by the deceptive media who will not tell us the true facts of those tested positive forCovid19.
It is imperative you and the Governor order information revealing true facts of pandemic.
All positive cases amd deaths must have listed:
1. Sex
2. Age
3. Pre- existing current diseases
4. Current prescription drugs
5. Hospitalized or not
6. If Hospitalyzed was it for concern or being critically ill.
7. If death occurred what drugs were used in hospital?
This way we can decipher just what is happening to the survivors and lost loved ones.
“However by your choice as our Mayor along with the Governor, you have kept kids from school, closed businesses, put 40% of the people out of work, homes are being lost to foreclosure, and suicides have increased, young people are depressed, infants and children are not socially developing unable to see facial expressions, youth are not seeing their significant other meant to be their lifetime future co-parent, and the list of deprivations goes on because you are listening to those who capitalize on disease ro make a living.”
@PoSitiv – I don’t know if I agree 100% with everything else you wrote, but I DO agree with this paragraph. Nobody is paying attention to how this calamity is affecting the children, their development and their education. They will be the real losers in all this.
Sadly, Kawakami, Ige and their ilk are not too bothered, because THEIR children will be just fine with their expensive schools, private tutors/nannies and the best health care. So these career politicians will continue to help their corporate pals get rich, who in turn will kickback some $$$ to them, and the cycle of corruption continues…
Mahalo, Po, for the thorough thought provoking list of very valid considerations on many levels, including several politically ever so touchy realities of the situation. Too many of us working 7 days a week with no end in sight attempting to keep our heads above water.
Mega kudos to UI & local banks offering mortgage deferment, both critical for survival in these times.
Nice post. I would include the cycle threshold at which the PCR test was performed, if any. Any cycle over 35 (even better 30) should be viewed as too sensitive and result in too many false positives. Also, how the diagnosis of COVID was determined, by lab testing and/or clinical assessment would be helpful. Somebody is making a killing on PCR “testing” of asymptotic patients.
Oh boy/ you got the words – but not the science
Kauaiboy
You are tight.
Well OFCOURSE this was going to happen.
Aloha? For bringing a plague over?
I dont tink so.
The leaders have heavy karma to deal with now. Money never more important than health .
Never.
We would have had very hard time but we could have made it.
We should have waited. 🙁
Ah, well, looks like our re-re-re-scheduled trip to Kaua’i is probably off again. We were hoping that this time we’d booked far enough out – mid-January – but now we have our doubts. And we’d rather stay home and part of the solution than come and be part of the problem. We really miss Kaua’i, but will wait until it’s safe for everyone before visiting. Who knows, we might luck out this time (but I still doubt it).
Prentiss, mahalo , mahalo, mahalo! You have it exactly. Attitude, safety, care for US. I am a tour guide so I would love to show and share Kaua’i asap
but as long as the infection rate is high on mainland forget it.
Now that we will have a proactive administration the end of Covid19, without herd immunity, is a very small light at the end of the tunnel.
We have worked very hard here on Kauai to keep us Covid free and it is alarming to see not only cases increasing but the hospitalizations accompanying them!
We should be concerned about the rising numbers,,, but really what could you expect with a system where you knew you were letting in infected people? Yes a small number but on Kaua’i we all know how small this island is. We had 0 and now rising almost daily since reopening.
The alarm bells are ringing from Fauci et all, the same dr our sick president called from Waler Reed hospital for his opinion I might add .
If the predictions are right we are in for a whole lot of personal hurt. The financial hurt here are going to be returned deposits and cancellations. It’s just salt in a wound.
Prentiss, I assure you when it is safe for us all we will welcome you and a world hungry for Aloha.
Lucky live Kaua’i
This is very alarming. We could have not opened up at more worse of a time with Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner and flu season. I know $$ is important to some people but health should be #1 and our government should protect us especially with the limited amount of hospital beds. Please don’t wait to long to make a sound decision and stand up for yourself and your community. This is not a time to keep travel open.
You got it.
Still people posting though
That we make big deal about it, and we should let it ‘run its course’
Ya…on our lil island its gonna run its course al right.
Only when people start dying will they understand just how
STUPID it was to open up
As you said during the absolute Worst time possible
Flu season
Holiday season
Surging in mainland
Really now…?
Dont mention lack of space for hospitalization, or respirators.
Still cant wrap my head around this..
So, you are a County Government employee sitting at home “working remotely”, aka working 1 hour a day and not answering any phones from the community?
Or are you on the Government Dole? Stay at home Mom? Still cashing those $600 checks each week?
The goal cannot be zero cases or zero deaths. Never happening. Any normal person can see that. Let’s get back to work. You have a better chance of dying getting in your car and driving on this 2 lane joke of a highway on this island. SMH. Stop the madness!
Any Primary family ea
”Eleven of 12 active cases are associated with travel, and one is a Kaua‘i resident who has frequent contact with travelers.”
And so it begins…………. Thanks Ige!!
To the people who keep making this about Money vs Health. Please stop watching Netflix every night and read some history books. Thanks.
Hey Po Sitiv – I had 3 family members affected by the virus; 2 died and one has long term neural effects due to the disease. So please do not ramble on about how this is running a natural course as a virus and it’s all being exploited by the media. This is like nothing we’ve ever experienced before. This is not fear talking this is reality. We open up our island to the floods of people from the mainland, but yet our schools remain in lockdown, our teachers and parents are trying to keep it all afloat. Our students are experiencing anxiety- this is a reality. Our community is in quarantine while visitors have a free pass to our islands. No amount of money is worth a human life.
The wealthy, those on diability, on retirement pension, or government employees want the island shut down.
Those who rely on the economy want it open.
Nobody cares about the kids, only the Kupuna. What kind of Kupuna sacrifices the young? …oh, ‘women’s rights’ activists?
The election virus was a successful attack on our society. We are further divided. So be it.
Very simple…can you imagine how many undetected case there are now on our island?
12 cases. Well that was this morning. The 3 PM report is in and we now have 3 more. It was just a short while ago when we could go weeks on end with no new active cases.
We asked the mayor to opt out of the single test if we could not get the 2 test option with quarantine in between, but he was pressured by the governor to accept this. And now Kauai has 15 active cases.
Aloha Paulo, due to those with highly functional immune systems, of which there are many on island, we may actually have a few thousand positive cases, who have developed the immune response to the viruses and are now immune, have deactivated all their viruses, and as a result of their having no active virus are now no longer contagious. All this in healthy people and they had no symptoms.
All positive cases on Kauai should be interviewed as tot heir diet and lifestyle, and any self abusive habits like alcohol and or tobacco or lolo.
@Po Sitiv: You do not know what you are talking about, and in normal times this might be quaint at worst but in present circumstances it is irresponsible and dangerous.
Only way to fix this is to shut down kauai unfortunately there a lot of people who say not to mayor this is on your hands you made the difficult discussion to reopen but was it the right discussion frankly I don’t no personaly I would of kept kauai closed indefinitely knowing there no cure for the virus of yet keeping our elderly and kids safe is more important then tourists in my opinion.