Maui Coronavirus Updates

Maui Now’s Wendy Osher interviews Maui Health CEO Mike Rembis.  We ask about the hospital’s policy on masks for health care workers, as well as the current state of supplies and equipment for the Maui facility.

Maui Mayor Michael Victorino gives us an update on how the Drive Through COVID-19 testing in Kahului went today as well as the Food Distribution efforts in Central and South Maui.  He also shares more about the County’s efforts to control, expedite testing, and prevent further spread of the virus.

The Hawaiʻi Department of Education’s Grab-and-Go school meal service will be off on the Good Friday holiday, April 10, 2020. Service will resume on Monday, April 13, with breakfast and lunch for children 18 and younger.

The Kahului Drive Through Testing site that opened at 8 a.m. this morning at Keopuolani Park. It drew an estimated 300+ people who were already in line upon opening.  Some who attended the testing tell us they waited in line for approximately two hours to get tested. 

As of noon on Thursday, April 9, 2020, there are 442 cases of COVID-19 identified in Hawaiʻi with 7 new cases. Maui County has 3 new cases for a total of 57 confirmed positive. Of the 57 cases in Maui County, at least 31 have been released from isolation, and 5 have required hospitalization.

Dr. Thompson spoke with KPOA’s Shane Kahalehau, discussing how families can talk to their children about the pandemic, avoid overexposure to information, and create learning experiences out of preparation and activities.

Maui Mayor Michael Victorino provided an update after visiting the Kahului Drive Through Testing site that opened at 8 a.m. this morning at Keopuolani Park.  During an interview with Shane Kahalehau of KPOA 93.5 FM, Mayor Victorino said that upon opening an estimated 300+ people were already in line.

US Representative Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02) hosted a live, tele-town hall to provide updates on the national and state response to the coronavirus. She was joined by Jane Sawyer, the Hawai‘i District Director of the US Small Business Administration, which is providing support for small businesses nationwide during the coronavirus pandemic.

Two food distributions take place TODAY, Thursday, April 9, to provide bags of produce to individuals impacted by COVID-19 in Wailuku, Kahului and South Maui. Distributions start at 10 a.m. and continue while supplies last at the following locations: War Memorial Gymnasium parking lot (700 Halia Nakoa Street) for Wailuku and Kahului residents; and South Maui Community Park Gymnasium parking lot (1501 Liloa Drive) for South Maui residents.

Drive through testing sites are being offered in Kahului in Central Maui on Thursday, April 9; and in the East Maui Community of Hāna on Friday, April 10, 2020.  The first two hours of the Kahului clinic are reserved for first responders and health care workers.  The news comes on the heels of a confirmed cluster of 15 workers with Maui Health that tested positive for COVID-19.

Maui Mayor Michael Victorino shares more details about the cluster of COVID-19 positive cases at Maui Health that he announced earlier today.  He also shares more about the County’s efforts to control, expedite testing, and prevent further spread of the virus.  

The one-day clinic will be held at Hilo’s Ho`olulu Complex on Saturday from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m.

Representative Tulsi Gabbard this afternoon called for Lieutenant Josh Green to lead the state’s coronavirus crisis. She also is asking that state Health Director Bruce Anderson and Dr. Sarah Park to be fired. She said “if Gov. Ige won’t do it, he should resign.”

State Health Director Dr. Bruce Anderson said the Maui death involved an unattended death and was confirmed by the medical examiner. Dr. Anderson also said the 15 cluster cases are not new, contrary to earlier information provided by the Joint Information Center. He said the cases were found over time and were accounted for in earlier totals.

Maui Health released a statement this afternoon following an earlier press conference this morning in which Maui Mayor Michael Victorino confirmed a cluster of around 15 COVID-19 positive cases among Maui Health employees. 

Maui has 6 new cases for a total of 54 confirmed positive. Of the 54 cases on Maui, at least 14 have been released from isolation, and 5 have required hospitalization.  Maui Now has a second death, bringing the state total death count related to COVID-19 to six. 

Maui Mayor Michael Victorino this morning announced a cluster of approximately 15 employees at the Maui Memorial Medical Center have tested positive for COVID-19.

Due to the shelter-in-place order from Governor David Ige, the state Department of Health has suspended all routine coastal beach monitoring and will not resume monitoring until the order is lifted. No updated water quality testing information will be available to the public to inform them of personal risk in recreating in the water, “so please use common sense and stay safe,” the Department advises.

The Salvation Army of Maui County is providing logistics and redistribution of donated items for COVID-19 response among the various island communities across Maui County. Current needs include donations of shelf-stable and nonperishable food, hygiene product, cleaning supplies and personal protection equipment.

“There was nowhere where they were going. One of them actually said that they were headed to the homeless resource center,” said Mayor Victorino during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. “So two of them that would have been on the island of Maui, returned home and not clutter up and take assets away from our people here in Maui County,” he said.