Maui News

Heidi Taogoshi, public health nursing supervisor for the Maui District Health Office said there are currently 24 case investigators, 20-30 trained National Guardsmen, and the department is also hiring 12 temporary staff that will start with orientation next week.  

Trans-Pacific travelers to Hawai‘i and interisland travelers are asked to fill out the information well in advance of their trip.  The health-related information needs to be provided within 24 hours of departure.

Nearly 370 people were tested for COVID-19 today during a drive-through testing event at Keōpūolani Park. The tests included about 180 tests for County of Maui employees of the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney and the Maui Fire and Police Departments.

Special Agents with the Attorney General’s office conducted quarantine checks at two Waikīkī hotels as part of a proactive attempt to enforce quarantine orders.  

The Maui Police Department today identified 10 more presumptive positive COVID-19 cases today. The news comes as seven earlier presumptive positive tests all came back negative today.  The original three cases identified through the department last week have been confirmed as positive.  

There were 211 new COVID-19 cases in Hawai‘i today including 190 on O‘ahu four on Maui and 17 on Hawai‘i Island.   There were also four deaths linked to COVID-19 in Hawai‘i today, all on O‘ahu, bringing the state total since the pandemic began to 79. Details are pending release.

The County has launched a new website with a map viewer to provide an online atlas of more than 200 public access locations and their features. For most sites, the viewer also features 360-degree photos of both the access point and the shoreline area, along with a depiction of the access path.

Mālama Maui Nui is hosting their annual “Get the Drift and Bag It!” cleanup campaign from Sept. 19 to Oct. 3 in partnership with the Ocean Conservancy. The cleanup campaign aims to empower and mobilize Maui residents in their environmental stewardship of the island community.

The carrier, which has been operating a reduced schedule since March due to the pandemic and resulting travel restrictions, will continue to cap cabin capacity at 70 percent through October to allow for onboard distancing.

This adds one additional week of a $300 plus-up for various types of unemployment benefits on top of the three weeks initially approved by Federal Emergency Management Agency on August 29.

The Realtors Association of Maui concluded its two-week-long “Got Rice?” virtual food drive on Aug. 15, raising more than $7,400 to support the Maui Food Bank. The COVID-19 pandemic has more than doubled the number of food-insecure people from 10,000 people per month to 35,000 people per month. 

Just as the event was scheduled to begin, news broke that Dr. Emily Roberson, the Department of Health’s new investigations branch chief and head of the state’s contact tracing program, had requested a leave of absence until chain of command issues can be sorted out.

The Hawaiʻi State Judiciary confirmed a second positive COVID-19 case involving an employee at Hoapili Hale on Maui. There are now 12 confirmed positive cases for Judiciary employees statewide including: nine on Oʻahu, two on Maui, and one on Hawaiʻi island.

The County has committed $200,000 to support the ranching community, which includes the purchase of cattle from various independent ranchers. DeCoite Packing House will process the cattle into approximately 1,000 pounds of ground beef, per week. Feed My Sheep will receive the ground beef and distribute to qualified individuals, nonprofit agencies and community feeding programs.

The Imi Pono challenge is open to middle school and high school students in Maui County who have ideas for a new invention, service, technique, application or product that can help to build a sustainable and vibrant economy.

County of Hawai’i Mayor Harry Kim announced Wednesday afternoon the closure of all Hawai’i county and state beach parks from Sept. 4 through Sept. 18 to prevent the further spread of COVID-19. The announcement comes amid a spike of coronavirus cases on Hawai’i Island with several clusters linked to social gatherings.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson today shared that he and his family have been recovering from COVID-19 over the past two-and-a-half to three weeks.  

There were 339 new COVID-19 cases in Hawai‘i today including 302 on O‘ahu and two on Maui and 34 on Hawai‘i Island.  Today’s case count includes 90 previously diagnosed cases from between Aug. 20 and 31.  State Health officials say the reporting was delayed as the result of an error in lab reporting that has subsequently been corrected. There was one death linked to COVID-19 in Hawai‘i today on O‘ahu, bringing the state total since the pandemic began to 75.

Contractor Maui Kupono Builders LLC completed the $775,000 project two months ahead of schedule.

In the latest edition, Maui County Councilmember Tamara Paltin will discuss the potential of Hawaiian homelands to meet Maui’s critical housing needs.  Paltin will speak about Honokōwai homestead lands in the context of West Maui housing needs.