Hawaii Daily COVID-19 Update: Friday, May 29, 2020

Hawaii Daily COVID-19 update coronavirus reports and statistics from government departments as of Friday, May 29, 2020 in the Aloha State.

Department of Health:

Three New Cases of COVID-19 on O‘ahu

DOH reports three (3) new COVID-19 cases. Two (2) are adults and one (1) is a minor and all are from O‘ahu. Please note that the total case count only rises by two, as one O‘ahu case was removed after a presumptive positive specimen was retested and was ultimately negative.

Hawai‘i COVID-19 Counts as of 12:00 noon, May 29, 2020

* Includes cases that meet isolation release criteria.

Laboratory* Testing Data

There were 933 additional COVID-19 tests reported via electronic laboratory reporting.

*Electronic Laboratory Reporting  **14 test results were inconclusive

Hawaiicovid19.com

For more tables visit: https://health.hawaii.gov/docd/

Most Hawai‘i Residents Recognize COVID-19 as a Serious Concern

According to a statewide survey recently commissioned by DOH the majority of Hawai‘i residents—93 percent—consider COVID-19 to be a very serious or somewhat serious health concern. 75% believe it poses a real danger or threat to themselves or others living in their household. However, only 44% of respondents say they are practicing social distancing guidelines “all of the time” suggested by government officials and healthcare professionals.

The 25% of respondents who say they do not feel threatened by COVID-19 cited reasons for their belief: They’re following CDC guidelines, believe they are healthy and unlikely to get sick, do not venture outside their homes much, or do not trust reports about the severity of the disease. There were notable differences in perceptions between the neighbor islands and O‘ahu, with 81% of neighbor islanders saying they consider COVID-19 to be a very serious concern, versus 69% of O‘ahu residents surveyed.

“The findings provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of our efforts to educate our community about the disease. This is especially important as we begin to reopen parks, businesses and other places where people congregate,” said Bruce Anderson, Director of Health. “For our state to fully reopen and start the road to economic recovery, all of our residents must recognize the seriousness of the pandemic and be willing to make necessary lifestyle changes to prevent a second wave of increased cases.”

Public service announcements can be viewed at HawaiiCOVID19.com/Resources.

View the Executive Summary of the Survey here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ckrxq0qjtfcxefn/Executive%20Summary_DOH%20COVID%20Survey.pdf?dl=0

Hawai‘i Tourism Authority:

1,031 Passengers Arrive on Thursday

Yesterday marked nine weeks since the state’s mandatory 14-day self-quarantine started for all passengers arriving in Hawai‘i from out of state. Yesterday, a total of 1,031 people arrived in Hawai‘i including 300 visitors and 316 returning residents. There was a total of 15 arriving flights. This table shows the number of people who arrived by air from out of state yesterday, but does not show interisland travel.

AIRPORT ARRIVALS FOR THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2020

https://www.hawaiitourismauthority.org/media/4686/052920-passenger-count-press-release.pdf

Department of Public Safety:

PSD Population Report

From March 2 to May 29 there has been a 708-person reduction in the jail population across the state. These reductions are due to the huge, up-front diversion efforts made by county police departments, PSD’s Intake Services Center Division and the State Judiciary. More recent, additional reductions are due to the collaborative efforts of the state public defender’s office, county prosecutors, the Hawai‘i Supreme Court and the Supreme Court appointed Special Master, Judge Dan Foley. The prison population has also seen a 100-person decrease.

https://dps.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/RELEASE-PSD-COVID-19-updates-5.29.20.pdf

Department of Human Services:

Med-QUEST to Issue New Request for Proposal for Managed Care Organizations

DHS announced Friday that in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Med-QUEST is rescinding the contract awards made to managed care organizations in January, canceling the request for proposal (RFP) released August 2019, and will be issuing a new RFP this fall to address the evolving needs of the community amid this public health crisis. Judy Mohr Peterson, administrator of the Department of Human Service’s Med-QUEST Division said, “The needs of our community have dramatically changed just within the past few months. The impact of the coronavirus caused us to take a new look at how to address the emerging needs of our growing Medicaid population and modify the requirements of the RFP to reflect this new reality we are all facing. We are grateful to the health plans who submitted proposals in 2019 and look forward to receiving new proposals that respond to this new environment.”

Since March 4, 2020, Med-QUEST enrolled over 24,000 additional beneficiaries, an increase of over 7.5 percent in total enrollment in less than three full months. The number of new applicants is expected to climb even higher as many face unemployment. The resulting Medicaid enrollment numbers are likely to remain high until Hawaiʻi’s economic recovery begins and there is a return to pre-pandemic employment levels. Based on the RFP issued back in August 2019, Med-QUEST announced in late January that it had awarded contracts to four health plans: Hawaii Medical Services Association and UnitedHealthcare Community Plan to serve Medicaid beneficiaries on all the islands, and to AlohaCare and ‘Ohana Health Plan to serve Medicaid beneficiaries on O‘ahu. Those contracts were scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2020. However, Med-QUEST previously announced postponement of the effective contract date to devote internal resources to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and to avoid placing any added stress and confusion on the part of beneficiaries during a challenging time. Existing contracts with all health plans shall be extended until the new contract awards are made.

Department of Transportation:

DOT Makes New Storm Patrol Keiki Activities Available Online

The DOT is making new Storm Water Hawai‘i activities available online to help parents engage their keiki at home. Kids can join the Hawai‘i Storm Patrol and earn their official, printable badge by participating in a variety of fun, interactive activities. Each year, the Storm Patrol team distributes more than 13,000 books and badges to all 1^st grade classrooms on O‘ahu. Prior to the COVID-19 emergency, the annual distribution was delivered to private and public schools, and while keiki won’t be able to enjoy them in school, they can now download the books to enjoy at home. Parents can also download a variety of worksheets to keep their keiki busy and learning. For teachers who are looking for new content to add to their curriculum for the next school year, the Storm Patrol teachers guide and resources are easy to download and share. To visit the webpage: https://www.stormwaterhawaii.com/hawaiistormpatrol/

Hawaii Daily COVID-19 Update yesterday.

#rebuildingtravel