LIHU‘E — Monday, the Kaua‘i District Health Office reported 13 new cases, including one child and 12 adults.
Four of these new cases are related to mainland travel. The remaining nine cases are considered community-acquired, with eight associated with an announced case or are tied to one of the county’s active clusters. The remaining community-acquired case has no known source of infection.
“The virus is spreading rapidly on our island,” Mayor Derek Kawakami said Monday. “We are experiencing some of the highest COVID case counts since the beginning of the pandemic, including a concerning number of cases in children.”
This past weekend, from Friday through Sunday, the county reported 77 new COVID-19 cases on-island, with 18 involving children. More than 90%, Kawakami reported, were in residents.
“With school in session, parents should follow these guidelines to keep their children safe,” Kaua‘i District Health Officer Dr. Janet Berreman said. “Children should be home if they are sick, and please get them tested. Be sure students have masks and know how to use them. Lastly, anyone in the household 12 and older should get vaccinated.”
The county is continuing to investigate two clusters on island, one at an educational setting which has resulted in 37 primary or secondary cases and one at the Kaua‘i Community Correctional Center which the Department of Public Safety reported 15 new positive cases among inmates and one from a staff member.
Some of these cases reported yesterday were previously recorded in the county’s figures from the weekend.
To date, this cluster at KCCC has resulted in 51 COVID-19 cases. A third round of testing was performed Monday, and the county is awaiting results.
Monday’s cases bring the number of active cases to 221, with three hospitalized, and 931 cumulative cases. Kaua‘i’s cumulative case count includes 877 confirmed locally, eight probable, and 46 positive cases diagnosed elsewhere, as they received their pre-travel test results after arriving on island.
