LIHU‘E — COVID-19 case counts continue to decline on island, but concerns over new strains of the virus have left public health officials cautious.
“There is still a lot of COVID going around and we continue to see deaths, especially among elderly residents,” said Kaua‘i District Health Officer Dr. Janet Berreman. “With the BA.4 and BA.5 variants spreading rapidly, we will likely see case counts rise again.”
New strains BA.4 and BA.5 now make up 20% of variants statewide, and both are present on Kaua‘i. They are not shown to be any more dangerous than previous iterations of the virus.
Case counts declined on island over the past week to a seven-day average of 23 cases a day, down from 31 last week in the fifth consecutive week of declining cases.
The positivity rate increased from 18.6% to 21.5% countywide, however.
Kaua‘i reported another fatality from COVID-19 this week, as a male resident in his 90s succumbed to the virus.
Statewide, the average is 558 cases a day, down from 651 the week before, though the actual numbers are significantly higher because this data does not include home tests.
Mayor Derek Kawakami reported Thursday that local hospitals have adequate capacity to manage cases.
COVID and keiki
The Department of Health announced Tuesday that masks will be optional in schools this upcoming school year, with officials pointing to wide availability of vaccines for all ages and a changing COVID-19 landscape as reasons behind the change of policy.
While the Center for Disease Control approved vaccines for keiki aged 6 months to 4 years-old last month, vaccinations for these children have been moving forward at a sluggish pace.
According to new DOH data, only 3% of children in this age range have gotten their first dose of the COVID vaccine statewide.
About 80% of children ages 12-17 and 43% for five to 11-year-olds have received their first dose.
Children of all ages are eligible for Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.
The FDA has authorized an additional vaccine, NovaVax, for emergency use this Wednesday for adults.
Department of Health
seeks input
The Department of Health’s Kaua‘i District Health Office announced that it will conduct a Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response in two weeks, to assess the community’s perception of Kaua‘i’s COVID-19 response and current household emergency preparedness.
Survey teams comprised of DOH staff, the Kaua‘i Medical Reserve Corps, and the American Red Cross will go door-to-door July 26 to 29 to 30 randomly selected census blocks. Seven houses within each census block will be surveyed.
The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete, and all responses are confidential.
“We greatly appreciate the participation of Kaua‘i residents in this island-wide survey effort that enables the Kaua‘i District Health Office to meet our community’s needs before, during, and after a disaster,” said Dr. Berreman.
Free COVID PCR testing is still available weekdays at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The mobile testing van is now on a weekday schedule. Free tests Mondays at the Hanalei Neighborhood Center, Tuesdays at the Bryan J. Baptiste Sports Complex in Kapa‘a, Wednesdays at the Kekaha Neighborhood Center, Thursdays at the Kilauea Neighborhood Center, and Fridays at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day.
