LIHU‘E – The Hawai‘i State Department of Health Kaua‘i District Health Office announced 49 new cases on Saturday.
Saturday’s cases are three visitors and 46 residents. Of the 49 new cases, 15 are children and 34 are adults. Six of the cases are related to travel – five mainland and one interisland. The remaining 43 cases are considered community-acquired. Thirty-four of the community-acquired infections are close contacts of previously announced cases or are tied to one of our active clusters. The remaining nine community-acquired cases have no known source of infection, including two cases whom investigators have been unable to reach after repeated attempts or who have refused to provide information. We currently have the following active clusters: two social gatherings, two places of worship, one shelter, one correctional facility, one educational, and one occupational cluster in a construction/industrial company.
All active cases are in isolation, and close contacts are being identified, offered testing, and directed to quarantine. Investigations are ongoing.
“As of today, we have exceeded our capacity for case investigation and contact tracing on Kaua‘i despite bringing on new staff daily. This means that you may not hear from us in the same timeframe our community has become accustomed to. If you test positive, please isolate yourself at home immediately and notify your close contacts,” said Lauren Guest, Public Health Preparedness Planner for the Kaua‘i District Office. “I would like to take this opportunity to thank our entire Kaua‘i District Health Office team for their tireless efforts to protect our community by controlling the spread of disease on our island. It can be a difficult and, at times, thankless job. Please know that your efforts have made an enormous difference and are greatly appreciated by the majority of our community.”
Mayor Derek S. K. Kawakami also thanked the Kaua‘i District Health Office team for their work to protect the health and safety of the community.
“Words cannot express my infinite gratitude to our team at the Kaua‘i District Health Office,” said Mayor Kawakami. “Mahalo to your families and loved ones for their sacrifice and patience as you have and continue to keep our island safe.”
Dr. Janet Berreman, Kaua‘i District Health Officer, emphasized that at this point, island-wide or statewide restrictions will be required to bring this surge under control.
“Until such measures are in place, each of us can do our part. If you test positive, isolate at home immediately, and let your contacts know they have been exposed,” said Dr. Berreman.
Today’s cases bring the number of active cases to 276, with six hospitalized, and 1,322 cumulative cases. Kaua‘i’s cumulative case count includes 1,265 confirmed locally, eight probable, and 49 positive cases diagnosed elsewhere, as they received their pre-travel test results after arriving on island.
