LIHU‘E — Hawai‘i had a seven-day average of about 100 daily cases of COVID-19 in early December. Now there are more than 5,600 active cases among the state’s 1.5 million residents, according to the state Department of Health.
Health officials reported another 707 new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases Tuesday, the fifth straight day of elevated infection numbers.
On this island, the DOH Kaua‘i District Health Office announced 17 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday, consisting of two visitors and 15 residents.
Of the 17 new cases, three are children and 14 are adults. Eleven of the cases are related to travel — nine mainland and two interisland. The remaining six cases are considered community-acquired. One of the community-acquired infections is a close contact of a previously announced case or tied to an active cluster. The remaining five cases have no known source of infection.
Kaua‘i has 93 active cases, with five hospitalized.
Health officials said there were at least 50 omicron variant coronavirus cases as of Monday. Early data suggests omicron is more transmissible than the delta variant, according to officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Lt. Gov. Josh Green said he wants more testing and vaccination sites to be established.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that Green sent a memorandum to Gov. David Ige and other state officials saying Hawai‘i has enough federal funding to set up more vaccine booster and testing sites across the islands.
“It stands to reason that now we’re seeing the large omicron surge that we get as many people boosters as possible,” Green said, adding that only 22% of vaccinated people have received boosters.
Vaccinated domestic travelers to the state are no longer required to take tests prior to their arrival. Anyone who is not vaccinated must be tested before departure to Hawai‘i or face a quarantine upon arrival.
On O‘ahu, where the vast majority of the new cases are being reported, Mayor Rick Blangiardi said last week that officials had no plans to set up more coronavirus testing or vaccination sites before the holidays.
“It’s really hard to do before Christmas. It’s really a manpower issue,” Blangiardi said. “We’re just going to encourage people who are available to get their third shots to get them.”
O‘ahu has a test positivity rate of 9% and the statewide average is 7%.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
