LIHU‘E — In the last week, the county has confirmed 263 new COVID-19 infections, Lauren Guest of the Kaua‘i District Health Office reported Monday.
“This is the weekly highest total on Kaua‘i since the beginning of the pandemic,” Guest said.
Nineteen of these cases were accounted for on Monday, 18 being residents and one visitor.
Of these new cases, two are children and 17 are adults. Two of the cases are related to mainland travel. The remaining 17 cases are considered community-acquired. Eight of the community-acquired infections are close contacts of previously announced cases or are tied to one of our active clusters, the county said. The remaining nine community-acquired cases have no known source of infection, including one case whom investigators have been unable to reach after repeated attempts or who has refused to provide information.
On Saturday, it was reported that the KDHO has faced its contact-tracing capacity, despite bringing in new temporary staff members as well as utilizing the Hawai‘i National Guard.
“Recently, a handful of people have been rude or verbally abusive to the Department of Health staff,” Mayor Derek Kawakami said. “When they call to inform them that they are a close contact of a case, and that they must isolate to avoid infecting our community, most people are thankful for the information. But a small percentage of people respond by swearing, calling them names, and refusing to cooperate.”
Kawakami identified eight active clusters on island: two social gatherings, two places of worship, one shelter, Kaua‘i Community Correctional Center and one occupational cluster in a construction-industrial company.
The county currently has 294 active cases, with five hospitalized. To date, the county has counted 1,380 cumulative cases.
