Two Oahu residents are the 28th and 29th coronavirus-related deaths in Hawaii.
An elderly woman, with underlying medical conditions, had been a resident at a Pearl City nursing home, but then was hospitalized, the Hawaii COVID-19 Joint Information Center. An elderly man, also with underlying health issues, was also in the hospital when he died.
“The passing of this man really demonstrates how rapidly and invisibly COVID-19 is spreading through our communities, particularly on Oahu and particularly associated with clusters. A close contact of this individual attended a spin class at a gym taught by a person linked to the Hawaiian Airlines cluster,” State Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park said in a prepared statement issued Thursday morning.
State health officials reported 173 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing Hawaii’s total case count to 2,763 since Feb. 28. The Department of Health will report Thursday’s case numbers at noon.
All of the new cases announced Wednesday were among Oahu residents, according to the COVID-19 Joint Information Center.
Oahu has reported 2,394 cases while Maui County has recorded 177 cases, Hawaii County 122 and Kauai County 47. Twenty-three residents have tested positive while out of the state.
Of the Hawaii residents who have tested positive for COVID-19, 1,402 of those cases have since recovered and been released from isolation. That includes 115 of the 122 cases on Hawaii Island.
Statewide, 214 patients have required hospitalization, including four on Hawaii Island.
Of the 29 deaths reported among Hawaii residents to date, 22 were on Oahu, six were on Maui and one was a Kauai resident receiving treatment in Arizona at the time he died.