Hawaii Island COVID-19 case count increases by double-digits for eighth straight day

Hawaii Island’s case COVID-19 count reached 383 Tuesday with the announcement of 19 new cases of the novel coronavirus.
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Hawaii Island’s case COVID-19 count reached 383 Tuesday with the announcement of 19 new cases of the novel coronavirus.

Tuesday marked the eighth consecutive day of a double-digit increase in the number of new cases for the island with 174 cases identified since Aug. 25. Since Aug. 18, Hawaii County’s case count has increased a whopping 152% from 152 cases and no deaths to 383 cases and three deaths.

The county is currently averaging a 3.5% positivity rate among persons tested while the statewide rate is about 5.3%, according to the center. As of Tuesday, 33,699 people had been tested in Hawaii County.

The 19 cases announced Tuesday were among 181 new cases reported across the state, according to the Hawaii COVID-19 Joint Information Center. Of Tuesday’s cases, 157 were on Oahu, 19 were on Hawaii Island and four were on Maui.

Of the 8,653 known cases since Feb. 28, some 6,019 of those cases are still considered active. That includes 193 of the known cases on the Big Island.

To date, Oahu has recorded the majority of the state’s positive cases at 7,848 cases. Hawaii County has recorded 383 cases, Maui County 340 and Kauai County 57. Twenty-five residents have tested positive while out of the state.

Statewide, 532 or 6% of COVID-19 patients have required hospitalization, including 16 on Hawaii Island, according to the center’s noon update.

The center also reported four new coronavirus-related deaths, including the one death on Monday at Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home in Hilo that were reported Tuesday by Big Island newspapers. The other three deaths were among Oahu residents.

Of the 74 deaths reported among Hawaii residents, 62 were on Oahu, eight were on Maui, three were on Hawaii Island, and one was a Kauai resident receiving treatment in Arizona at the time he died.