Hawaii Daily COVID-19 Update: Friday, April 17, 2020

Governor’s Office

Fifth Supplementary Proclamation Addresses Face Coverings & Outdoor Activity

Governor David Ige’s Fifth Supplementary Proclamation adds to existing emergency rules for the COVID-19 crisis. The governor is encouraging everyone to wear cloth face masks whenever in public places with the exception of exercising outside, as long as social distancing requirements are maintained. It also details limitations on activities outside your home or place of residence, including the closure of all state beaches (see more detail below under DLNR). The proclamation also directs all employees and customers of essential businesses to exercise social distancing and protective requirements:

• Maintain six-foot distancing whether outside, waiting in lines or indoors with many people
• Businesses determine maximum number of customers allowed at one time in their establishment
• Frequent use of hand sanitizers and disinfectants
• All customers and employees who have customer contact must wear a cloth face mask
• High risk populations urged to stay home
• Encouraging online, remote access, store pick-up and home delivery options
• Posting of social distancing signs

Proclamation Includes Eviction Moratorium

The Fifth Supplementary Proclamation forestalls evictions for failure to pay rents, leases, or other related charges, such as maintenance fees, utilities, and taxes during the COVID-19 crisis. Violations of this provision and any others of this and prior Supplementary Proclamations is a misdemeanor, upon conviction, punishable by fines as much as $5000 or a year in jail, or both.

https://governor.hawaii.gov/newsroom/latest-news/office-of-the-governor-news-release-governor-ige-orders-eviction-moratorium/

Department of Education:

DOE Announces Distance Learning For Remainder of the School Year

The Hawai‘i State Department of Education (DOE) announced today that it will continue distance learning for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year. The decision was based on the latest guidance and information from health officials and elected leaders. DOE Superintendent Dr. Christina Kishimoto said, “This pandemic has undoubtedly changed the way that education will be delivered at all levels and especially how our Department will operate moving forward. We have pushed our boundaries and created new ways of delivering on our mission, including expanding distance learning opportunities, establishing an equity of access approach to devices and the internet, and exploring work from home approaches that can help us rethink our real estate footprint for non-instructional staff. I want to acknowledge the resiliency of the DOE workforce and thank them for rising to the challenge of looking for innovative ways to move our work forward through this unprecedented time.”

The department’s focus will shift in the coming weeks toward a rollout of summer school, which will largely occur using distance learning, as well as creating a plan for the school year 2020-21. Additionally, the department will also launch a health triage hotline and telehealth service staffed by a registered nurse, which parents can use to get assessments of physical and mental health needs for students. School facilities have been closed to students since March 19, but the school system remains open.

http://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/ConnectWithUs/MediaRoom/PressReleases/Pages/HIDOE-enrichment-and-distance-learning-to-continue-for-the-remainder-of-the-2019-20-school-year.aspx

Department of Health:

12 News Cases of COVID-19

Eleven (11) adults and one (1) minor are among the dozen new cases of COVID-19 reported by DOH today. There are new cases on O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, and Maui. Eleven cases are Hawai‘i residents and one is a non-resident.

LABORATORY* TESTING DATA

*Electronic Laboratory Reporting

46 test results were inconclusive..

Hawai‘i COVID-19 Counts as of 12:00 noon, April 17, 2020

** 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.

Hawaiicovid19.com

Maui Memorial Medical Center Cluster Update

One additional person is under investigation as being potentially associated with the cluster of positive COVID-19 cases at Maui Memorial Medical Center (MMMC). The DOH’s investigation at MMMC continues and it appears the outbreak may have been driven by a single healthcare worker who was allowed to work while ill. 42 people (27 staff and 15 patients) are now associated with this particular cluster of cases. One homeless individual had been hospitalized at MMMC and was discharged with COVID-19 like symptoms to an apartment complex for homeless people. This individual and an asymptomatic roommate have been relocated to an isolation facility.

Race Breakdown of Cases Now Available Online

The DOH Disease Outbreak Control Division website now includes a table depicting racial group comparisons of positive COVID-19 cases compared to overall state census data.

This table and many others available at: http://health.hawaii.gov/docd/

Department of Land and Natural Resources:

Beaches, Trails, Boating and Fishing Impacted by New Rules

Governor Ige’s Fifth Supplementary Proclamation today not only closes all state beaches to sitting, standing, lounging, lying down, sunbathing and loitering, but also includes restrictions on boating fishing and hiking. DLNR Chair Suzanne Case said, “We encouraged these more severe restrictions after officers from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) and others observed large groups of people continuing to ignore social distancing guidelines when outside.” People can still transit across beaches to get to the ocean for outdoor exercise like surfing, solo paddling, and swimming as long as social distances are maintained. Generally, families or people sharing the same residential addresses are exempt from the new rules, that for all others disallows more than two people being on a boat together or fishing together. Group hiking is banned on all State trails. People who want to hike alone and want to have someone else along for safety reasons are required to maintain a distance of not less than 20-feet from each other. Read the complete DLNR news release here:

https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/blog/2020/04/17/nr20-047/

Hawai‘i Tourism Authority:

386 Passengers Arrive on Thursday

Yesterday, the fewest number of passengers and flights arrived at Hawai‘i airports during the past three weeks. 386 people arrived, including 110 visitors and 157 residents. 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/4448/041720-passenger-count-press-release.pdf

Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism:

DBEDT is reporting the following interisland passenger numbers for Hawai‘i airports for April 14, 2020.

https://dbedt.hawaii.gov/economic/covid19/

HTDC Awards $2M in Grants to Local Tech and Manufacturing Companies

The Hawai‘i Technology Development Corporation (HTDC) announced it has awarded nearly $2 million in grants to 42 local technology and manufacturing companies for fiscal year 2020. The money was awarded under two state programs, $1.42 million to HTDC’s Small Business Innovation Research program and $485,692 to HTDC’s Manufacturing Assistance Program. Although the annual grant programs are not in direct response to the COVID-19 outbreak, they will provide much-needed support during this pandemic, and help Hawai‘i’s economy become more resilient. Mike McCartney, Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism said, “State investment into our manufacturing and innovation sectors not only provides critical support in the immediate term, it helps diversify Hawai‘i’s economy and lays the foundation for long-term, sustainable growth. By supporting new drivers for Hawai‘i’s economy we will be better positioned to deal with potential economic adversity in the future.” The grants are designed to help companies further the development of new products and solve critical issues, and will also allow Hawai‘i-based manufacturers to expand production capacity and create more jobs in the state.

https://dbedt.hawaii.gov/blog/20-07/