KDHO: 12th COVID-19 related fatality, 11 new cases

LIHU‘E — County officials reported the 12th COVID-19 related fatality on Kaua‘i on Monday.

The male visitor was in his 50s who was hospitalized.

Monday, the Kaua‘i District Health Office also reported 11 new COVID-19 cases, all in residents, including one child and 10 adults.

One of the 11 is related to inter-island travel, while 10 are considered community-acquired. Three are associated with close contacts of previously announced cases or tied to an active cluster. The remaining seven have no known source of infection, including two who have not provided information to contact tracers.

The county currently has 109 active cases, with six hospitalized.

According to the Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency, five of the county’s 11 intensive care unit beds are occupied. Two of the five are used by COVID-19 patients.

Kaua‘i Deputy District Health Officer Lauren Guest said the county’s positivity test rate has gone down to 3.5%. Two weeks ago, it was 5%.

The KDHO is monitoring 15 active clusters, including four restaurants, four workplaces, two places of worship, two education settings, one construction setting, one social gathering and one cluster related to travel, lodging and tourism.

“Many of the occupational clusters are caused by a single employee who goes to work while sick and infects many other coworkers,” Guest said. “Please, do not go to work if you are experiencing any symptoms. If you are an employer or manager, do not allow sick workers to remain at work — they should be sent home immediately and strongly encouraged to be tested for COVID-19.”

Exact locations were not shared to protect the privacy of those affected.

Free testing is available at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall in Lihu‘e each weekday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. A free mobile testing van is available for walk-ins from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Kekaha Neighborhood Center on Wednesdays, Kilauea Neighborhood Center on Thursdays and Kalaheo Neighborhood Center on Fridays.