LIHU‘E — Thursday, the state Department of Health Kaua‘i District Health Office recorded the county’s highest single-day, new infection count of 63 COVID-19 cases.
All of these are in residents, the majority of which, 43, being adults.
Sixty of the cases are considered community-acquired, with many associated with active clusters at places of worship. The other three are related to travel.
The county currently has several active clusters, including four places of worship, two social gatherings, Kaua‘i Community Correctional Center and “several small occupational clusters,” Lauren Guest, a public health preparedness planner at the Kaua‘i District Health Office, reported.
“The delta variant is spreading aggressively,” county Managing Director Michael Dahilig said Thursday. “Healthy adults and children are getting very sick. More than a quarter of our COVID cases recently have been children.”
According to the state’s Sequencing and Variants of SARS-Cov-2 report released Sept. 1, the delta variant is dominant in Hawai‘i. Of samples taken of positive COVID-19 patients on Kaua‘i during this round of sequencing, 100% were of the delta variant.
“These reports reinforce what we know about the alarming increase in cases across Hawai‘i. Delta is different — it is twice as transmissible as other variants,” DOH Director Dr. Elizabeth Char said. “COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective at preventing severe disease, hospitalization and death, including from the delta variant. It’s critical that Hawai‘i residents take precautions to stop the rapid spread of COVID-19 and preserve health care capacity.”
There are 325 active confirmed cases on Kaua‘i, with five in the hospital.
According to the Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency, as of midday Thursday none of the county’s 11 intensive-care-unit beds were being used by COVID-19 patients.
With the upcoming Labor Day weekend, officials are urging residents and visitors to not gather.
“This holiday weekend, our choices and actions will determine how much suffering this island will have to endure in the month to come,” Mayor Derek Kawakami said in a statement. “Our case count is at a record high. So, please, adjust your plans.”
So Kawakami advised avoiding gathering indoors this weekend.
“If you are going to be around others, do it outside. Avoid closed spaces with poor ventilation,” Kawakami said. “Avoid crowded places. Avoid close-range conversations. Wear masks if you spend time with people from outside of your household. If you travel, get tested a few days after you return. These simple steps are our best hope to prevent more sickness and death.”
Gov. David Ige, in a statement, said hospitals throughout the state has been inundated with COVID-19 patients.
“Because of COVID, our hospital system across the state is in danger of moving toward a worst-case scenario. If that happens, health-care leaders warn that choices will have to be made, people may not receive the care they need, and some will die,” Ige said.
Guest said about 700 people per day have been seeking testing at sites including the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall in Lihu‘e and the county’s mobile-testing sites.
The testing van will be at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center today, the Hanalei Neighborhood Center on Saturday and in Kapa‘a at the Bryan J. Baptiste Sports Complex on Sunday. Each site is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for walk-up appointments.
This headline to this article was updated at 6:30 a.m., Friday, Sept. 3 for accuracy.
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Sabrina Bodon, editor, can be reached at 245-0441 or sbodon@thegardenisland.com.
