Hawaii Daily COVID-19 Update: Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Department of Health:

Clarification on McDonald’s COVID-19 Cluster Investigation

A cluster of cases involving 7 lab-confirmed employees at McDonald’s locations at both Kona Commons and Walmart in Kailua-Kona has been recently identified and that number may change as the investigation into the primary case and their contacts continues by DOH. Once confirmed the establishment closed its operations at both locations and is currently performing enhanced cleaning. All employees who have tested positive are in isolation and potentially exposed employees without symptoms are self-quarantined at their homes. In addition, 5 family members exposed to 2 of the confirmed employees have tested positive for COVID-19. This brings the total count of this cluster to 12 at this time, including both employees (7) and their close contacts (5). The investigation is ongoing at this time and more cases may be identified related to this cluster.

Based on findings thus far, DOH does not believe this outbreak poses a risk to the general public. The department is continuing to work with the food establishment to ensure all possible precautions are being taken to prevent further spread of disease and that any close contacts of those confirmed are being closely monitored for any immediate changes to their health. The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has thus far found no evidence of food or food packaging being associated with transmission of COVID-19.

“The health and safety of our employees and customers is our number one priority. Our organization is continuing to make changes to restaurant operations to serve food safely and conveniently with the health and well-being of restaurant employees top of mind. We have closed our Kona Commons and McDonald’s of Walmart Kona locations for deep cleaning to conduct a comprehensive sanitization of the restaurant. Our thoughts are with our crew members who have been impacted by COVID-19 and we look forward to re-opening when it is safe to do so and with the assistance of the Hawaii Department of Health in accordance with CDC regulations” said McDonald’s franchise owner, Patrick Lim of the Lim Organization.

The DOH is working closely with the Lim Organization to investigate this localized community spread of COVID-19 among all employees at the Kailua-Kona food establishment that may have been inadvertently exposed.  Fortunately, the restaurant, like many other food establishments, had previously implemented social distancing measures to protect customers and prevent exposure prior to an employee testing positive. These measures included protective clear barriers between employees and customers during all transactions. These efforts may have helped to reduce the total magnitude of this cluster.

Governors Office:

Thousands of Small Businesses Get SBA Help

During his daily news briefing today, Governor David Ige announced that 8,426 small businesses have had Small Business Administration Loans approved under the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program. The total amount approved for Hawai‘i businesses so far totals $1,626,051,108. The governor again encouraged all residents of Hawai‘i to wear masks when in public and to abide by physical distancing measures.

Lt. Governor’s Office:

Update from Lieutenant Governor Josh Green – State COVID-19 Healthcare Liaison

Statewide Hospital Capacity Update as of April 14, 2020

Individuals hospitalized (cumulative to date): 45

Department of Health:

Hawai‘i COVID-19 Cases at 517

Four (4) Hawai‘i residents, who are currently not in the state, are among the 13 new positive cases of COVID-19 being reported today. All four people are in isolation and upon their return to Hawai‘i will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days. Of the 13 cases, all but one (1) are Hawai‘ residents. One (1) of the new cases is a minor and the other 12 are adults.

LABORATORY TESTING DATA

32 test results were inconclusive

HAWAI‘I COVID-19 COUNTS AS OF 12:00 NOON, APRIL 14, 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.

No Public Health Threat from Kona Restaurant Cases

DOH is investigating a limited, localized community spread of COVID-19 among employees at a Kona food establishment. DOH Director Dr. Bruce Anderson identified the business as a McDonald’s restaurant. Fortunately, the restaurant, like many food establishments, had previously implemented social distancing measures to protect customers and prevent exposure prior to an employee testing positive. The establishment has closed its operation and performed enhanced cleaning. The twelve (12) employees who have tested positive are in isolation and exposed employees without symptoms are self-quarantined at home. Two individuals are both employees and live in the same household. The investigation is ongoing and based on findings so far, DOH does not believe this outbreak poses a risk to the general public. The department is continuing to work with the restaurant to ensure all possible precautions are being taken to prevent further spread of disease. There is no risk to the public, as only workers were involved, and the restaurant was taking necessary physical distancing measures to protect customers.

DOH Continues Working Closely with Maui Memorial Medical Center on Cluster of Cases

The health department is continuing to aggressively investigate every case at Maui Memorial Medical Center (MMMC) to protect this vulnerable population. At this time, 34 people have tested positive for COVID-19. DOH is including all cases identified as positive within the time period of concern, so this number includes some who represent separate introductions or those with no identified association with other cases at MMMC but occurring within the time period of focus. Additional supplies of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) have been provided to MMMC to protect health care workers. All those affected with symptoms are in isolation and those without symptoms are in quarantine.

Health Care Association of Hawai‘i Joins DOH to Call for Medical Volunteers

The call went out this afternoon for volunteer medical professionals to join the Hawai‘i Medical Reserve Corps (MRC). The Health Care Association of Hawai‘i and DOH are seeking licensed healthcare professionals, not currently working in clinical roles to help shore up volunteer medical personnel in case of a potential surge in COVID-19 patients. Non-medical volunteers are also needed. This can include retired or out-of-state professionals such as:

• 1. Physicians
  2. Nurses
  3. Respiratory Therapists
  4. Radiologic Technologists
  5. EMTs
  6. Community Health Workers
  7. Many other roles

This effort is crucial because the Hawaii’s healthcare needs are more important than ever during this global pandemic.

The link to the registry is: www.nlk.doh.hawaii.gov.

Hawai‘i COVID-19 Joint Information Center:

Physical Distancing Posters and Infographics

Please feel free to download and use any of the posters and graphics sized for Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter which promote physical distancing. Poster languages/dialects are:

Chuukese, Hawaiian,Ilocano, Japanese, Korean, Marshallese, Samoan, Simplified Chinese, Tagalog, Traditional Chinese, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

Hawai‘i Tourism Authority:

691 Passenger Arrivals Yesterday

Yesterday, 691 people arrived in Hawai’i, including 164 visitors and 205 residents. In comparison, 30,000 people arrived daily during this same time last year. This table shows the number of people who arrived by air from out of state yesterday and does not include interisland travel.

HAWAII AIRPORT ARRIVALS, APRIL 13, 2020

https://www.hawaiitourismauthority.org/media/4441/041420-passenger-count-press-release.pdf

Hawaiʻi State House of Representatives:

House Select Committee Holds Fourth Briefing on COVID-19

The Hawai‘i House of Representatives Select Committee on COVID-19 Economic and Financial Preparedness held its fourth informational briefing yesterday, focusing on plans to reopen Hawai’i’s economy post-coronavirus. Committee member and Executive Director of the Economic Research Organization at the University of Hawaiʻi (UHERO) Carl Bonham and economist Sumner La Croix outlined their two-step plan, which would allow businesses to resume operations and workers to return to their jobs, followed by the measured return of tourism. They said many conditions need to be met before the economy can fully resume, including the development of a vaccine, but that strong leadership will be needed to make critical decisions as we move the state from isolation to reopening. The committee also discussed the benefits and limitations of virus testing, and federal support for local businesses and the state. The committee has a website with videos of all its briefings and accompanying documents:

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