April 14-20, 2022 COVID-19 update: 17 deaths, 1,736 new infections in Hawaiʻi

The state Department of Health is reporting a COVID-19 count of 1,736 new cases over the past week, between April 14-20, 2022. This comes following a record high of 6,252 new cases reported in a single day on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022, during the omicron surge.

The Hawai‘i Department of Health transitioned from daily to weekly COVID-19 data reporting effective March 9, 2022. Case counts and vaccination updates are now published every Wednesday.

The latest weekly count includes 206 cases on Maui, 150 on Hawaiʻi Island, 88 on Kauaʻi, seven on Molokaʻi, three on Lānaʻi, and 70 out of state.  There are 1,212 new COVID-19 cases on Oʻahu.

The latest data represents a total of 2,743 “active” cases statewide over two weeks. 

Of this week’s 1,736 cases, there are 1,491 cases identified as confirmed, and 245 probable cases were added to the count.  The confirmed cases included: 1,062 on O‘ahu (+150 probable); 119 on Hawai‘i Island (+31 probable); 157 on Maui (+49 probable); 86 on Kaua‘i (+2 probable); seven on Molokaʻi; two on Lānaʻi (+1 probable); and 58 Hawai‘i resident diagnosed while out of state (+12 probable).

Hawai‘i’s COVID-19 deaths increased to 1,407, with 17 new deaths reported over the past week.

*Officials with the state Department of Health say that “because of the volume of COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 related deaths” going forward, the DOH “can no longer provide daily information including county of death, age range of the decedent, hospitalization status, gender, and whether or not the decedent had underlying conditions.” This information will be updated every Wednesday on the DOH Disease Outbreak Control Division data dashboard.

In Maui County, the seven day average for new daily cases is 14.9 per 100k; or 25 average over the last seven days. The countyʻs test positivity rate is 5.4%, and the statewide positivity rate is now 7.1%.

Statewide, with data through April 20, there are 26 people hospitalized with COVID-19, (down from a peak of 448 on Sept. 4), according to an update from the Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency. HIEMA statistics show 0 COVID-19 patients in the ICU statewide, and 0 COVID-19 patients on ventilators. 

As of 9 a.m. on April 18, 2022, the latest data available, there was five individuals hospitalized in Maui County with COVID-19, below both the 41 reported during the height of the delta surge in August 2021, and the previous omicron high of 56 reported on Jan. 28, 2022. The data was last updated two days ago and included one individual in the ICU and one on a ventilator.

*Note on ICU capacity:  The Maui hospital needs to have adequate ICU nurses to care for the ICU patients that are in beds and will staff up and down based on need. This means that although beds are listed as still “available,” staffing would be needed to accommodate occupancy. According to Maui Health, capacity and staffing statistics are not static numbers, and are constantly shifting throughout a 24 hour period, with staffing based on census/capacity. 

The new cases bring the cumulative total of cases to 245,035 (confirmed and probable) statewide, reported since Feb. 28, 2020.

The cumulative total of cases in Maui County is 26,283 confirmed cases over the course of the pandemic.  To date, there have been 902 confirmed cases on the island Molokaʻi, 629 on Lāna‘i and 24,752 on Maui.

There are 26,283 confirmed cases documented in Maui County over the course of the pandemic, plus an additional 4,124 probable cases, bringing the total cases attributed to the county to 30,407.

To date, there have been 1,407 COVID-19 related deaths in Hawaiʻi including: 1,043 on Oʻahu, 139 in Maui County, 185 on Hawaiʻi Island, 28 on Kauaʻi and 12 deaths in residents diagnosed while out-of-state.

QUARANTINE UPDATES:

COVID-19 Testing Availability on Maui:

Testing on Maui is available at the following locations:

• Lahaina: Lahaina Civic Center | Mondays and Saturdays, 8 a.m.-3 p.m.‍
• ‍Kīhei: 1280 S. Kīhei Road (behind Ace Hardware) | Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. ‍
• ‍Kahului: 348 Lehuakona St. (at Maui Marketplace) | Wednesdays & Saturdays, 8 a.m.-3 p.m.

Additional testing sites throughout the County of Maui are posted here.

COVID-19 Vaccination Availability:

The vaccine clinic at Maui Memorial Medical Center is available on Fridays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 to 4 p.m. to accommodate the booster shot appointments. Additional vaccine sites available during the month are posted here.

22nd COVID-19 Emergency Proclamation; and Maui County Public Health Emergency Rules Available online

• Federal judge throws out CDC transportation mask mandate
• CDC extends travel-related mask mandate to May 3
• Hawaiʻi adopts CDC guidance, allowing additional booster for certain individuals
• Hawaiʻi’s indoor mask mandate expires March 25, 2022
• Safe Travels program ends March 26, 2022
• Maui Memorial Medical Center reinstates allowance of regular visitors
• Honolulu Mayor Blangiardi announces end of the City’s COVID-19 emergency orders
• Mayor repealing Maui County Public Health Emergency Rules, effective March 1, 2022
• Vaccines no longer required to dine-in on Maui, starting Monday Feb. 21, 2022