Maui News

There were 306 new COVID-19 cases in Hawai‘i today including 289 on O‘ahu, seven on Maui, and 10 on Hawai‘i Island.  There were also four more O‘ahu deaths linked to COVID-19, bringing the state total since the pandemic began to 55.

The extension applies to all O‘ahu schools and most neighbor island schools. Hāna High & Elementary School on Maui and Kilohana Elementary, Maunaloa Elementary and Moloka‘i Middle schools on Moloka‘i will continue their current models.

“It’s not perfect, but when you do it at intervals or sequentially–when you have a captive audience (nursing homes, a prison, a homeless shelter)–two tests three days apart are terrific, compared to a single test, no matter how good it is, just one time.”

Currently, the Maui District Health Office has 24 staff and public health nurses to conduct contact tracing. The Hawaiʻi National Guard has provided an additional 28 personnel to assist with investigations.  Supervisors say the tracers have made more than 1200 calls in the past week.

A student at Maui Waena Intermediate school has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a letter from the school principal to parents on Wednesday.

The Healthcare Association of Hawai’i reports that the state is in urgent need of nurses, including recent nursing graduates who have not yet passed licensing work, to assist hospitals amid a surge in hospitalizations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hawaiʻi State Federal Credit Union donated $5,000 and nearly 900 pounds of food to the Maui Food Bank.  

Koholā will start brewing beer in the next two weeks and prepare the tap room to welcome guests once again. The business is targeting a re-opening in approximately three weeks.

Maui Health hosted a virtual community town hall on Wednesday, Aug. 26, at 3 p.m. HST. Several members of the Maui Health team answered questions from the community via Facebook Live.

While there are indications that infections in Honolulu are beginning to stabilize and even decrease slightly, health officials are expressing concerns about growing activity on Maui and Hawai‘i island.

A fourth Bayanihan Food Distribution will be held on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020 at 9:30 a.m. at the Binhi at Ani Filipino Community Center in Kahului.

Lane closures this week include paving, guardrail and utility adjustments on the Honoapiʻilani Highway; and tree trimming work on the Kula Highway and Haleakalā Highway.

The Salvation Army in Hawaii received more than $110,000 in grants and donations to support its outreach programs, including summer feeding programs for the organization’s neighbor island corps in Kahului and Lahaina on Maui. The monetary support for the organization will help continue its outreach efforts to help the community as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact Hawai’i’s economy and its residents.

Hawaiian Electric is extending its suspension of service disconnections for nonpayment through Dec. 31, 2020. The company advised customers challenged by the financial impacts of COVID-19 to seek utility bill assistance from government and nonprofits and set up a payment arrangement plan. 

A total of 62 Maui County students were selected as scholarship recipients of the Realtors Association of Maui Community Foundation Presidential Scholarship Fund. The academic scholarships were awarded to deserving high school seniors aspiring to pursue higher education.

Upon approval, Hawaiʻi will offer an additional unemployment compensation benefit of $300 per week to eligible unemployment recipients. To qualify for this benefit, recipients must be eligible for at least $100 in weekly benefit and must certify that they are unemployed or partially unemployed due to the disruptions caused by COVID-19. Payments would be retroactive to Aug. 1, 2020.

The Maui Police Department issued a press release this afternoon acknowledging the many social media posts about the death of Julian Heyward III.  Police say their investigation is ongoing and continue to express that “thus far, nothing has indicated foul play.”

Recent clusters on Maui have included: 66 cases linked to Maui Memorial Medical Center; 20 cases at the  Roselani Place assisted-living community in Kahului; a construction site; and a number of cases were also related to gatherings that Maui residents attended on Oʻahu.

Governor David Ige this morning approved Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s request for a stay-at-home, work-at-home order for the island of Oʻahu.  Mayor Caldwell said the order goes into effect at midnight 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 27, and continues for two weeks. This does not impact the neighbor islands, which remain at their current levels of response.

Roselani Place, an assisted living community on Maui has identified 20 COVID-19 positive cases as of Monday.  The positive case count at the facility as of Sunday includes eight residents and 12 staff.