7 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday

LIHU‘E — The state Department of Health Kaua‘i District Health Office reported seven new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday.

These cases consist of five residents and two visitors. Two of the cases are children, and five are adults. Five of the cases are travel-related — four mainland and one inter-island. The remaining two cases are considered community-acquired. Neither of the community-acquired infections are close contacts of previously announced cases. They have no known source of infection.

All active cases are in isolation, and close contacts are being identified, offered testing and directed to quarantine. Investigations are ongoing.

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new mask recommendations today,” said Dr. Janet Berreman, Kaua‘i district health officer, said.

“When disease rates are high, the CDC recommends that everyone, even those fully vaccinated, wear masks indoors. CDC further emphasized the protective power of mask-wearing in schools. Hawai‘i’s statewide indoor-mask requirement is prudent, effective and consistent with CDC’s guidelines. Mahalo for wearing your mask indoors in public places,” she said.

Tuesday’s cases bring the number of active cases to 43, with five hospitalized, and 568 cumulative cases.

Anyone with symptoms or feeling sick should isolate themselves immediately, stay away from household members and not go out — including to work or school — unless seeking testing or getting health care. Those who have been vaccinated should still be tested if they believe they may have been exposed, or if they feel sick.

The DOH Kaua‘i District Health Office team continues to investigate every case reported on Kaua‘i. DOH staff interviews everyone who tests positive, to get information about how they may have become infected and who they may have exposed during their infectious period.

Each person who is identified as a close contact is called by a contact tracer and notified of their exposure. They are instructed to monitor for symptoms, and are offered testing.

All unvaccinated close contacts are instructed to quarantine. The DOH staff is in daily contact with cases and close contacts for the duration of their isolation or quarantine periods.

This is a labor-intensive-but-effective, core public-health approach to disease control, and the island benefits from continued robust case investigation and contact tracing, Berreman said.