LIHU‘E — Friday morning, the county reported five new on-island COVID-19 cases, including three visitors and two residents.
Four of the cases are travel-related, and one has been listed as community spread, Mayor Derek Kawakami said during Friday’s COVID-19 update video.
The county currently has 16 active cases, with two in the hospital, and a reported 95 in quarantine as directed by the state Department of Health, as identified by contact-tracing investigations.
On Kaua‘i, there have been 104 cumulative cases, with 92 confirmed locally, one probable and 11 diagnosed elsewhere.
The county, in partnership with the state DOH, is offering free COVID-19 tests through the end of the year. Of the five newly reported cases, one was discovered during last Sunday’s Kapa‘a surge-testing event, which tested 413 residents, yielding two positive results. At a testing event earlier this month, of 194 people tested, two came back positive.
The next event is Sunday, Nov. 22 at Hanapepe Stadium, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Residents can register and see a full list of testing locations at kauai.gov/test.
“Folks, if you are
experiencing symptoms and have health insurance, please contact your physician immediately,” Kawakami urged. “Do not wait for surge testing to be tested. If you receive a positive test result, please call the Department of Health to notify them.”
These tests cannot be used for the state’s Safe Travels program or to be released from quarantine.
On Thursday, Gov. David Ige implemented a requirement that all travelers must have their negative pre-travel COVID-19 test uploaded into the Safe Travels website prior to flying to bypass a 14-day quarantine. The county has confirmed 10 of the state’s 44 instances of travelers receiving positive COVID-19 pre-travel tests after arriving onto the island.
“This not only disrupts travel plans for these cases, as they must immediately go into isolation, but it is taxing on our limited on-island resources,” Kawakami said.
The county is still hoping and waiting on approval for a mandatory, three-day quarantine and post-travel test for travelers that was proposed to Ige on Monday. This local rule would require a second negative test before being able to leave the quarantine.
“The governor is still considering that rule,” Kawakami said. “Meanwhile, we are obtaining the resources required to carry out that level of testing should he honor our request. If our request is denied, we are considering other protective measures we could propose.”
Statewide, health officials recorded 95 new COVID-19 cases Friday, and one death. The new cases include 70 on O‘ahu, 13 on Hawai‘i Island, five on Maui and one on Kaua‘i. This state information lags county-reported totals and does not include cases of travelers who received their pre-travel tests elsewhere.
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Sabrina Bodon, public safety and government reporter, can be reached at 245-0441 or sbodon@thegardenisland.com.
413 people tested and 2 were found to be positive. A college by us tested over 1800 students and 44 tested positive. The students did not know they were sick. We are locking down for a virus that can be stopped with a bar of soap.
Aloha J.D. Well maybe a bar of soap, 3000-5000 iu of vitamin D3, a zinc supplement and 1000 mg of vitamin C per day to be more precise. Best part-this works for all corona viruses. It’s not a “cure” but it’s a real immune booster.
The recommended daily amount of vitamin D is 400 international units (IU) for children up to age 12 months, 600 IU for ages 1 to 70 years, and 800 IU for people over 70 years. Mayo Clinic
At this point our Mayor should sue malignant Governor Ige to put in place a CV protocol that works for Kauai.
Why can we not protect ourselves from the Hospitality Industry owned politicians in Oahu?!? It’s one thing to pay for their public transportation scam – it’s another to have a death sentence from their profoundly dangerous CV policies.
Ige is way over his head. Time to let the adults make the rules.
Sued? All of them including the mayor and his association should be tried with treason.
Of the 95 in quarantine can tell us how many are visitors and how many are residents?
Trump’s vaccine coming just in time for Kauai. Be thankful.
Hopefully Former President* Trump’s vaccine cures tax fraud or else he’s going to jail next year. Loser.
Hey Mr. Mayor! I doubt you read these comments, but hopefully one of your minions will.
There’s this thing called a SECOND TEST, see? And none of your current Covid plans will amount to anything unless a second test is also instituted, see?
At this rate, all of our community sacrifices over the past year – and all those lost jobs and failed businesses and sicknesses and deaths – won’t have mattered unless you control the spread of this virus now by mandating A SECOND TEST!!!!!
So you hear the words coming our of our mouths???
the mayor has been calling for a 2nd test for months, Ige denied this, you aren’t reading the article or following the news , read before you rant
5 cases??!! Anyone else beginning to feel from relatively smooth sailing to being on the Titanic? We now see the iceberg, the tip of the iceberg.
If you come here and get sick you are not leaving sick. 9 ICU beds, period.
Mahalo for wearing your mask!
Hey chicken little. The sky is falling. You should just stay inside and let others live their lives instead of wanting the majority to suffer while the minority cowers in fear.
May I suggest that our mayor give the governor a deadline to make the two test and 3 day quarantine decision or we will choose to opt out of the governor’s plan and initiate our own plan to protect the people on our island. We need to control this situation while we still can.
May I suggest that our mayor give the governor a deadline to make the two test and 3 day quarantine decision or we will choose to opt out of the governor’s plan and initiate our own plan to protect the people on our island. We need to control this situation while we still can.
I agree that a 3 day quarantine is needed in addition to the second test. I appreciate the mayor working on this and hope this can be done immediately. A delay while waiting for Gov Ige to approve will result in huge problems for our island Time is of the essence and there is no time to waste before there is no turning back.