Featured

As of March 16, 2020, as of 3:30 p.m., there are a total of 10 confirmed or presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in Hawai‘i. Three new positive results were announced today for two O‘ahu residents, and one visitor on Maui. The Department of Health (DOH) is monitoring all of these individuals and supervising their isolation as well as the self-quarantine of their family members.

“We are starting to see the edge of community spread of the COVID-19 virus here in the islands. We are taking unprecedented actions to protect the vulnerable in our community, and ensure that medical resources are available to those who most need them,” said Gov. Ige.  

Hawaiʻi legislative leaders are scheduled to discuss suspending the 2020 session due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

President Donald Trump and members of the Coronavirus Task Force hold a press briefing. In his address, the president called for gatherings of no more than 10 people, recommended schooling from home when possible and asked the public to avoid discretionary travel.

In support of current County, State, and Federal governmental and health agency recommendations, and in light of the worldwide efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), the Maui Arts & Cultural Center has postponed all public programming until further notice. 

Radar at 4:32 p.m. showed heavy showers with rain rates up to 3 inches per hour over portions of windward west and east Maui and upcountry. Additional, heavy showers are expected during the afternoon.

Hawaiian Airlines today announced it will temporarily suspend nonstop service between Honolulu and its Australia and New Zealand gateways starting later this month due to new government entry restrictions being imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maui Mayor Michael Victorino has canceled his in-person meeting on Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi, and will host a live stream instead, with updates on COVID-19 (coronavirus).

Hawaiʻi public schools will close through at least the end of March due to ongoing concerns for the COVID-19 pandemic. The closure essentially extends spring break by an additional week to March 30, 2020, instead of the previously scheduled return date of March 23. 

The number of COVID-19 cases in Hawaiʻi ticked upward over the weekend.  Officials with the state Department of Health are hosting a LIVE update at 1:30 p.m. HST on Sunday, March 15, 2020. (*Live feed courtesy KHON2 News). 

A Flash Flood Watch continues for entire state through Tuesday afternoon as a Kona Low forms west the islands tonight. The National Weather Service says, “Increased southeast to south winds, bands of heavy rainfall, and thunderstorms are expected. While all islands could experience flooding rainfall, Kauaʻi and Oʻahu will see the greatest risk.”

County of Maui officials were informed earlier this evening that the test result for one Person Under Investigation here on Maui was returned positive for Coronavirus or COVID-19. The female visitor is currently in isolation and continues to be monitored by the state Department of Health.

The Hawai‘i Department of Health has received at least two presumptive positive test results for COVID-19 from private laboratories. One individual is on Maui and the other is on O‘ahu. These tests are pending confirmation by a certified state public health laboratory. Earlier on Saturday, two positive results were announced for two visitors on Kaua‘i who traveled from Indiana. The couple had also visited Maui where they had sought urgent care.

A 50-year-old Colorado woman who was in Hawaiʻi for a two week trip, says she has since tested positive for COVID-19, the novel coronavirus. It is important to note that it is unclear where the woman contracted the virus and there are others in her area of Colorado that have tested positive–none of them to date are personal contacts of hers, to her knowledge. This particular test was taken 19 days after leaving the islands, but symptoms were present in the weeks before being tested.

Maui Mayor Michael Victorino released a statement regarding the two presumptive positive COVID-19 cases on Kauaʻi. The couple who tested positive had become symptomatic while on Maui and had sought urgent care while here. 

The White House today announced the the United States will be suspending all travel from the UK and Ireland effective at midnight ET on Monday night.  Legal US residents will be able to return home.

Two visitors to the island of Kauaʻi tested positive for the coronavirus or COVID-19, becoming the third and fourth presumptive positive tests in Hawaiʻi.

The Molokaʻi meeting will be on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, at 4 p.m. at the Mitchell Pauole Community Center. The Lānaʻi meeting will be on Thursday, March 19, 2020, at 4 p.m. at the Lānaʻi Community Center.

As announced earlier this week the Hawaiʻi State Department of Health launched a statewide surveillance testing program to identify cases and community spread of the coronavirus. Testing on the first batch of samples was completed today and of the 31 random samples completed, all 31 were negative for COVID-19, according to officials with the DOH. 

Wailea Realty Corp. + Windermere Real Estate will cancel its annual Economic Summit that was scheduled for Thursday, March 19, at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea. In light of the COVID-19 outbreak, the company decided to cancel the event until further notice.