Hawaii Daily COVID-19 Update: Friday, April 10, 2020

Governor’s Office:

Two Additional Deaths Reported 

In response to the news today about two additional fatalities,  Gov. David Ige said, “This is another sad day for Hawaiʻi. On behalf of our entire community, I would like to express my condolences to the families and friends of two more of our neighbors who lost their lives to COVID-19. Please accept my deepest sympathy and support during this difficult time.”

State Reminding Everyone to Practice Physical Distancing During Easter Weekend

With Easter weekend coming up, the state is reminding everyone to remain at home and continue practicing physical distancing. Gov. Ige commented, “This Sunday is Easter. It’s a time we usually spend celebrating with family and friends and watching the kids hunt Easter eggs in the backyard. But these are not normal times, and I cannot stress enough the need to remain vigilant. Enjoy your Easter. But continue your physical distancing. Do not gather in large groups. Stay at home and use this time to reflect on what you can do as individuals to flatten the curve, help our neighbors and protect our community.” The stay-at-home order for the state is currently in effect until Apr. 30, 2020.

Department of Health:

Two Additional Deaths Reported, 23 New Positive Cases

Two additional COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing the total number of deaths in the State of Hawaiʻi to eight. The 7^th death was an older adult woman from Honolulu who was medically frail and hospitalized. The 8^th death was an elderly male hospitalized at Maui Memorial Medical Center in the Chronic Care Unit. The total number of deaths now stands at eight (8). There are also 23 new cases for a total number since Feb. 28 of 465 cases. The City and County of Honolulu saw nine (9) additional cases; Hawai‘i County has three (3) new cases; and Maui County has nine (9) new cases, and the County of Kaua‘i has one (1) new case.

Laboratory Testing

The Department of Health (DOH) supports testing of individuals with symptoms and is not advocating mass testing at this time. DOH’s current recommendations align with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Only certain people with COVID-like symptoms such as fever or cough need to be tested. People who have COVID-like symptoms and who have chronic medical conditions or are older should be tested because they’re at risk for severe disease and knowing whether they have COVID may affect their healthcare treatment.  Most other people who are sick do not need to be tested since many will have mild illness and are able to recover at home, so testing will not change their treatment or the need to stay home until they are well.

In general, DOH recommends testing only symptomatic persons because laboratories are facing ongoing shortages of kits and consumable supplies. Personal protective equipment (PPE) required to collect specimens and to perform testing are also in critically short supply. Indiscriminate use will further shortages placing healthcare and laboratory personnel at risk for infection. Close contacts who adhere to 14-day quarantine rules will effectively minimize their risk to others. Testing asymptomatic contacts will not change or shorten their quarantine requirement. Testing of asymptomatic persons should be reserved for selected situations as guided by specific public health or infection control objectives (e.g., to implement cohorting during a nursing home outbreak).

LABORATORY TESTING DATA

21 test results were inconclusive

HAWAI‘I COVID-19 COUNTS AS OF 12 NOON, APRIL 10, 2020

++ Includes two positive case on Molokai. 

** Refers to positive cases that have an unknown county of diagnosis at the time of this report. As more information becomes available for these cases, they are assigned to the proper County of Diagnosis. A negative number indicates the number of previously unknown cases that have now been assigned to a county.

Maui Memorial Medical Center Case Numbers Grow

Four additional cases connected with the Maui Memorial Medical Center have been announced. Three were healthcare workers, the other was a patient. This brings the total number of cases associated with the hospital to 19. Over Easter weekend, the Dept. of Health will continue to conduct contact-tracing, notify anyone else who may have been exposed, and supply additional personal protective equipment to hospital healthcare workers.

Multi-Language Physical Distancing Images Now Available For Social Media

Online images reminding everyone to practice physical distancing are now available online for anyone to use for social media. The images fit size dimensions for Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. They’re also available in English, Hawaiian, and Japanese. Everyone is encouraged to download the free images and share them on social media to help curb the spread of COVID-19. Download the images here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/f3crddhm1dvx1e0/AADYxpbepZ5d_dpKPWFopOJHa?dl=0

Hawai‘i Tourism Authority:

107 Passengers Arrive in Hawai‘i on Thursday

Yesterday, 663 people arrived at Hawai‘i airports. This includes 107 visitors and 171 residents. Mandatory 14-day, self-quarantine is required for all passengers arriving from out of state and also covers interisland travelers. This table shows the number of people who arrived by air from out of state yesterday and does not include interisland travel.

https://www.hawaiitourismauthority.org/media/4435/041020-passenger-count-press-release.pdf

Hawaiʻi “Safe Travels” App Launches

A new web-based app called “Safe Travels” is being rolled out to allow travelers who are subject to the 14-day quarantine in the State of Hawaiʻi to fill out the information required to travel electronically, including where they’re staying, prior to their trip. The Department of Taxation worked with the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to roll out the system on Apr. 10. Once travellers get to a Hawaiʻi airport, they’ll have to show proof they completed their registration and provide some form of identification. After that, they’ll be expected to check-in daily during their mandatory 14-day quarantine. https://safetravels.hawaii.gov/

Department of Agriculture:

Emergency Farmer Relief Program

The Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture (HDOA) is currently reviewing requests for assistance under the COVID-19 Emergency Farmer Relief Program which offers some financial assistance to qualified farmers, ranchers and producers who have experienced damage to their operations due to COVID-19. The funds for the program, totaling $250,000, are being utilized from the State’s barrel tax fund (Agriculture Development and Food Security Special Fund) which was made available through Gov. David Ige’s March 4 emergency proclamation. Relief funds may be used to help utilize an oversupply of agricultural products resulting from the decreased demand due to closures of restaurants, schools and other businesses. Applications were accepted until March 27 and 333 proposals were received, requesting a total of more than $1.1 million dollars. However, since the available program funding totaled just $250,000, proposals are currently being reviewed and prioritized for distribution. Under the emergency program, eligible applicants including individual farming operations may receive a maximum of $2,000. Also, non-profit organizations, commodity groups, agricultural associations with 501(c)(3) status may apply for a maximum of $10,000 in relief funds. The review and award process is expected to be completed next week and funds are expected to be sent out later this month. “The overwhelming number of requests is an indication on how this crisis is severely impacting Hawaiʻi’s agricultural industries,” said Gov. David Ige. “This COVID-19 situation makes us all more appreciative of our local food producers and acutely underscores why increasing our state’s food security has been so very important.”

https://hdoa.hawaii.gov/blog/main/nr20-03covid19relief/

Department of Public Safety:

Inmates Sew Cloth Masks for Public Safety Department Staff and Community

Inmates in the sewing program at the Waiawa Correctional Facility (WCF) and Kulani Correctional Facility (KCF) have begun to sew thousands of cloth masks for Public Safety Department staff, inmates, and other state agencies as a way to prevent COVID-19 from spreading and to give back to the community. The sewing project began on Apr. 1, with the assistance of the Hawaii Correctional Industries (HCI), which supplied the fabric, sewing supplies and sewing machines for the inmates. Work lines are currently producing 600-700 cloth masks per day with a goal of increasing that number to 1,200 masks a day by Apr. 17. The Public Safety Department currently does not have any confirmed cases of COVID-19 in any of its facilities.

https://dps.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PSD-RELEASE-Inmates-sewing-cloth-masks-4.10.20.pdf

The Hawaiʻi State House of Representatives:

House Select Committee on COVID-19 Schedules Fourth Informational Briefing 

The House Select Committee on COVID-19 Economic and Financial Preparedness has scheduled its third informational briefing on the economic impacts of the crisis on Hawai‘i on Monday, April 13, beginning at 10 a.m. To comply with physical distancing restrictions to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the briefing is not open to the public and no public testimony will be accepted. The hearing will be available statewide on community television: ‘Olelo, Nā Leo TV, Akakū and Hō‘ike Community Television. Livestreaming is available at:

https://olelo.org/ or http://olelo.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=31

For more information about the committee and to see related documents go to:

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/specialcommittee.aspx?comm=cov&year=2020