Hawaii Daily COVID-19 Update: Thursday, April 9, 2020

Department of Health:

DOH Reports Seven (7) New Cases

The rate of positive COVID-19 cases remains steady at 2.7% of tests. Seven (7) new cases are being reported, all in adults, for a total number since Feb. 28 of 442 cases. Honolulu saw six (6) additional cases; Hawai‘i Island has two (2) new cases; and Maui has three (3) new cases.

LABORATORY TESTING DATA

18 test results were inconclusive

HAWAI‘I COVID-19 COUNTS AS OF 12 NOON, APRIL 8, 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.

Face masks for Toddlers & Babies?

Someone recently asked, “Should face masks be worn by young children or babies?

Dr. Janet Berreman, DOH Kaua‘i District Health Officer provided this response,

“It’s important to remember that masks only protect others from you…they do not protect the mask wearer. Young infants generally do not generate powerful coughs like adults do, so their respiratory droplets do not travel 3-6 ft. like those of adults. Young infants don’t pose the same risk to those around them. Of concern would be the potential for obstructing normal breathing in infants less than one-year old. I would not recommend using a masks on a young infants. And again, the mask does not protect the baby. So, yes it’s better for infants and all of us to stay at home.”

Update on Pride of America Cruise Ship Cases

DOH continues to monitor a cluster of COVID-19 cases, among crew members on the Pride of America cruise ship, currently docked in Honolulu. Seven (7) crew are in isolation after testing positive. Their close contacts have also been placed in quarantine. Anyone on the ship who had symptoms or develops symptoms associated with COVID-19 will be tested immediately. The ship is following strict physical distancing procedures, recommended by the CDC and DOH, and reviewed with the ship’s officers. Off-boarding of approximately 300 healthy crew members is continuing as safely as possible. These people will be masked and will proceed directly to the airport to travel to their home where they will self-quarantine for 14 days. A minimal crew of approximately 200 people will remain on board to sail the ship to the mainland and into dry dock.

Volunteers Help Assemble PPE

Dozens of volunteers from across O‘ahu gathered at the Neil Blaisdell Convention Center today to help assemble personal protective equipment (PPE) purchased by DOH. The PPE arrived last week, unassembled, and over a dozen community groups rose to the challenge and called on their volunteers to come help put the 4,000 PPE together. The equipment will be offered to essential workers on the front lines of the state’s COVID-19 outbreak response, in Honolulu and on the neighbor islands. The organizations that sent volunteers included; DOH, Hawai‘i Children’s Action Network, Caring for Hawai‘i‘s Neonate’s, HI COVID-19 Task Forces, Bricklayers Union, Young Democrats, FACE, Mililani High School, Hawai‘i Firefighters Association, Hawai‘i cab nautical, Hawai‘i Medical Reserve Corps, Faith Action, and HMSA. Several people not associated with one of the groups also participated.

Hawai‘i Tourism Authority:

689 Passengers Arrive in Hawai‘i on Wednesday

Yesterday, 689 people arrived at Hawai‘i airports. This includes 107 visitors and 274 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/4433/040920-passenger-count-press-release.pdf

Department of Transportation:

Four Oahu Residents to Disembark Cruise Ship at Honolulu Harbor

Four O’ahu residents will be getting off a Pacific Princess cruise ship when it docks at Honolulu Harbor on Monday, Apr. 13, 2020. The ship was last at port in Melbourne, Australia on March 28, but no passengers or crew disembarked. There are no confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 associated with the vessel. The ship will also have been at sea longer than the 14-day quarantine period. No one else will be allowed to get off the ship besides the four Hawai’i residents, and they will be medically vetted on board prior to disembarkation. After they’re cleared, they will be shuttled directly from the harbor to their residences where they’ll immediately begin a mandatory 14-day quarantine. The ship will refuel before leaving for its final destination in California.

Another ship, the Seabourn Sojurn, is scheduled to arrive six days later on Apr. 18, 2020, however no one will be allowed to get off that vessel. The Seabourn Sojurn was previously in Melbourne, Australia on March 29, 2020. No one left the vessel while at port. The ship will dock at Honolulu Harbor for fuel and provisions and is scheduled to leave Honolulu the same day it arrives.

https://hidot.hawaii.gov/blog/2020/04/09/four-oahu-residents-to-disembark-cruise-ship-at-honolulu-harbor/