The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) is urging everyone to please exercise caution and celebrate the holidays safely as COVID-19 is surging. The 797 new COVID-19 cases reported today represent the highest case count in more than three months. The 7-day new case average increased from 101 ten days ago to 297 today. The positivity rate jumped from 1.4% ten days ago to 4.2% today. “These numbers reflect a disturbing trend.... Read More

The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) is adopting expanded guidelines from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on COVID-19 booster vaccinations. Hawai‘i residents ages 16 and 17 may receive a booster dose if it has been at least six months since the completion of the initial series of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.  DOH reminds all eligible residents they can receive a booster dose if it has been at least two months since their... Read More

The National Weather Service informed the City and the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) Sunday morning that flooding and severe weather from a Kona Low system could begin impacting O‘ahu this evening with effects continuing through Tuesday. There is potential for O‘ahu to experience a catastrophic rain event during this period with intense rain bands. Deep tropical moisture could produce widespread 10 to 15 inches of rain with isolated areas of... Read More

The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) received results of two sets of samples collected from the Navy water system in the last 10 days. On November 24, prior to reports from the public of fuel-like odors in tap water, DOH collected two drinking water samples from the Red Hill water supply shaft. These samples were collected as a part of routine testing, one before water passed through the chlorination system and... Read More

The following written statement by CDC is in response to inquiries about today’s reported 1,678 COVID-19 cases. COVID-19 case counts reported by the Department of Health come from more than 80 laboratories. The laboratories send their test results to a company that aggregates the information. The data is then sent to the Hawaii Health Information Exchange (HHIE). HHIE reports the data to the Department of Health for documentation, analysis, and public... Read More

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today granted Emergency Use Authorization for Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccination. With the FDA authorization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will soon issue recommendations on who should receive the vaccine and how it should be distributed.   “Today’s announcement validates the FDA’s findings that this vaccine is safe and effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalization, and death,”... Read More