HONOLULU — A new wave of the coronavirus pandemic has Hawaii in “crisis” mode, with hospitals putting together surge plans and the state recording its highest single bump in cases, Gov. David Ige said.
Ige said at a news conference that 1,167 new infections were reported Friday. The count included a small number of cases from previous days that were delayed because of a technical glitch, but still represented the highest single increase since the start of the pandemic.
“Friday the 13th has never been so frightening. It is real and it is terrifying,” Ige said. “And tragically, it’s preventable.”
The vast majority of new cases are among unvaccinated people, officials said.
There was an average of 729 new cases over the last three days, Ige said. Hawaii has a population of nearly 1.5 million people. The seven-day state positivity rate is now 7.4%.
Ige said hospitals filling up and putting together surge plans.
“They are treating younger and younger people,” the governor said. “Yesterday, tragically, we reported a death of a man in his 30s.”
While the governor recently announced new restrictions on gathering sizes in places like restaurants and bars, the state is not yet imposing new restrictions on travel despite people flocking to the islands for vacation.
Department of Health Director Libby Char said now is a “horrible time to travel.”
Char also said the situation is a crisis and asked people to prepare as if it were a hurricane or other natural disaster.
The state has seen several new records in the past couple of weeks. Two months ago the islands were reporting new daily case counts in the double digits.
Hawaii was once considered a success story as it enjoyed among the lowest COVID-19 infection and death rates in the country throughout much of the pandemic. Now, amid the surge of new cases, Hawaii’s hospitals are nearing an all-time high for coronavirus admissions.
Hawaii never lifted its indoor mask requirements and 61% of all residents have been vaccinated. That percentage includes children who are not yet eligible to receive the vaccine.
The state requires people traveling into the state to produce either a negative COVID test or proof of vaccination to avoid quarantine.
