Hawai‘i Reports State’s 23rd COVID-19 Related Death

Hawaiʻi reported a 23rd COVID-19 related death today on the island of Oʻahu.  Lieutenant Governor Josh Green reports the latest death involves an elderly Oʻahu resident who had been isolating at home with family.  The state Department of Health confirms that the individual was a man over the age of 60 who had an underlying health condition.

State Health Director Dr. Bruce Anderson said, “We all extend our heartfelt sympathies to the patient’s family and friends who have just lost a loved one. Every COVID-19 death is an emotional reminder to be vigilant, wear a face covering, and practice proper social distancing measures. It’s about protecting each other.”

Today there were a total of 23 new cases in the state for a total of 1,334 reported over the course of the pandemic. The new cases include 20 on Oʻahu, 2 on Hawaiʻi Island and one in a resident who was diagnosed while out of state.

So far 994 people have been released from isolation and 317 COVID-19 cases remain active in the state.

Lt. Gov. Green also noted that Hawaiʻi is currently seeing the tail end of a surge from July 4th activities. Saturday, July 11, had the greatest single day number of reported cases (42) since DOH began tracking cases in late February.

The Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency this morning tweeted:

“We are saddened to report another death from COVID-19.  Wash your hands. Keep a physical distance of six feet between non-household members.  Wear masks over both mouth and nose. Exercise extreme caution if you must socialize or attend gatherings.”

We are saddened to report another death from COVID-19.
Wash your hands.
Keep a physical distance of six feet between non-household members.
Wear masks over both mouth and nose.
Exercise extreme caution if you must socialize or attend gatherings.
Mahalo.

— Hawaii EMA (@Hawaii_EMA) July 17, 2020

Today’s death is the 16th for the island of O‘ahu.  On Maui, six COVID-19 related deaths have been recorded since the start of the pandemic; and one case involved an Kaua‘i resident who was hospitalized out-of-state in Arizona.

Today’s death comes after three deaths reported on Monday, which had occurred over the course of a week July 7-12 and included the following:

• One patient was an elderly Kaua‘i resident who died out of state, in Arizona over the July 11-12 weekend. Health officials say the man had been receiving treatment for several months for underlying medical conditions.
• A female died in an O‘ahu hospital Sunday morning, July 12, and had previously been a resident of a care home.
• An elderly O‘ahu man with underlying medical issues died July 7^th. State health officials say the man’s death was added today after a review of his health history and discussions with his primary care physician.

Prior to that, other fatalities in the state related to COVID-19 included the following:

• (July 3) An elderly patient on O‘ahu who was hospitalized with multiple underlying health issues.
• (June 26) An elderly Honolulu man was the 18^th death in Hawai‘i due to the coronavirus.  The last reported death prior to this was on May 3, one-and-a-half months earlier.
• (May 3) The 17^th death is a woman, over the age of 60 on Maui, with underlying medical conditions. She had been in the hospital at Maui Memorial Medical Center since late February. Her infection occurred in mid-April. “COVID-19 is not believed to be the primary cause of death, due to her other serious illnesses, but may have been a contributing factor to her passing,” health officials said.
• (April 27) The 16^th death is an Oʻahu woman who is over 65-years-old and had underlying conditions and had been hospitalized since early April.
• (April 26) An O‘ahu man, over the age of 65, with underlying health conditions passed away on April 26. He had been in the hospital since early March and his infection was presumed to be community associated.
• (April 24) The Hawai‘i Department of Health reported the 13^th and 14^th deaths associated with COVID-19 in the state. One is an O‘ahu man who had been hospitalized since the beginning of April, was over 65-years-old, and had underlying medical conditions. He had a history of travel to Las Vegas in March. The other is also an O‘ahu man, over 65-years-old, who’d also been hospitalized recently and also had underlying health conditions. His infection was the result of community-associated spread.
• (April 20) The Hawai‘i Dept. of Health reports that two additional coronavirus related deaths occurred on April 20, bringing the total in the state to 12 since tracking began on Feb. 28, 2020.  The deaths occurred on O‘ahu and on Maui and both were men, 65-years-old, or older. On Maui, the man who passed had underlying health conditions. He had been in the hospital at Maui Memorial Medical Center since late last year, according to state Health officials.  This person’s death is considered related to the MMMC cluster.
• (April 19) The fourth Maui case was confirmed on April 19, and was an adult male from Washington state in the 40-59-year age group who had no previous medical conditions. State health officials say the man’s exposure history may be travel-related.  The man had been hospitalized for an extended period in serious condition at Maui Memorial Medical Center.
• (April 11) A woman, over 65-years-old is the ninth death from COVID-19. State officials say she had underlying medical conditions and had tested positive for the virus when she was hospitalized on O‘ahu.
• (April 7) A third death in Maui County reportedly occurred on April 7, but was reported in the state count on Friday, April 10.  The third case involved an elderly individual who was in the chronic care unit.
• (April 8) The second Maui death was announced on Wednesday, April 8, and was an unattended death.
• (April 6) Maui reported its first COVID-19 related death on Monday, April 6, of an adult male over the age of 65 with underlying health conditions and exposure to travelers.
• (April 3) The Hawaiʻi Department of Health reported the death of a third individual with COVID-19. The elderly Oʻahu resident had been hospitalized in critical condition on life support for several weeks after returning from travel to Washington state.
• (April 2) Hawaiʻi officials confirm a second COVID-19 related death in the state.
• (March 30). Governor David Ige offered condolences to the family of an individual, as the state reported it’s first death linked to the COVID-19 virus. The individual passed away on March 20 and was identified as an older adult male resident of Oʻahu who was hospitalized with multiple medical issues and did have a positive COVID-19 exposure, according to state Health officials.  The presumptive positive result came back from a private lab.