Kaua‘i weekly case count decreasing

LIHU‘E — In the last week, Kaua‘i has averaged about 158 new COVID-19 infections a day, officials reported Monday.

“That’s down from the peak on January 22 when the seven-day average topped 288 cases,” state Department of Health Kaua‘i Deputy District Health Officer Lauren Guest said Monday during the county’s weekly COVID-19 briefing.

Guest said the county is beginning to see a steady decline in cases, “though our case count remains elevated.”

Yesterday, the DOH Kaua‘i District Health Office reported 127 new cases, bringing the number of active cases to 619, with 13 hospitalized. According to the Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency, three are in the intensive-care unit.

According to the Department of Public Safety, an additional six inmates tested positive at the Kaua‘i Community Correctional Center. This brings the number of active cases here to 27. All are in medical isolation.

“Vaccines are still the most-effective way to prevent hospitalization, severe illness and death from COVID-19,” Guest said.

Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave full approval of the Moderna vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 for those 18 and older. The Moderna vaccine had been available under emergency-use authorization since December 2020. The Pfizer vaccine received full approval last August.

Thursday, a mobile vaccine van will offer vaccines and boosters for those aged 12 and older at the Hanalei Neighborhood Center from 1 to 5 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome.

Another community vaccine clinic will be held at Isenberg Park in Lihu‘e on Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m. Walk-ins are welcome.

A free testing site at Kaua‘i War Memorial Conventional Hall in Lihu‘e is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

“If you didn’t get a home kit or you want a PCR test, our free testing center at the convention hall and our mobile testing van now have plenty of capacity available,” Mayor Derek Kawakami said Monday.

“Over the holidays the testing centers got maxed out, but for the past two weeks none of our testing clinics ran out of tickets. They will continue providing free PCR testing with same-day results. There is no longer any need to line up early to guarantee a test,” said Kawakami.

For a full list of testing sites and more details, visit kauai.gov/covidtest.

For a full list of locations for vaccines for children and adults, visit kauai.gov/vaccine.

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Sabrina Bodon, editor, can be reached at 245-0441 or sbodon@thegardenisland.com.