#omicron surge

“MMMC’s census is very busy at over 95% capacity with COVID and non-COVID patient care needs,” said Maui Health spokesperson Tracy Dallarda. “However, the hospital is not at an ‘internal emergency’ status as other hospitals around the state have declared…”

There are 4,700 new COVID-19 cases reported today, including 495 cases on Maui, 23 on Molokaʻi, and five on Lānaʻi.

There are now 26 people hospitalized in Maui County with COVID-19, according to counts last updated at 9 a.m. on Jan. 11, 2022, from Maui Health. Eleven of the current Maui COVID-19 hospitalizations are in vaccinated, and 15 are in unvaccinated individuals. There are now two Maui COVID-positive patients in the ICU (1 vaccinated/1 unvaccinated) and one vaccinated COVID-19 patient on a ventilator.

Hospitalizations on Maui are up 67% in the new year, rising from 12 on Dec. 31, 2021 to 20 in just seven days. Hospital representatives say that although half are vaccinated, none of the vaccinated individuals are boosted.

“It’s 2022. This is the third calendar year that we’re dealing with COVID. And that might sound terrible and kind of depressing, but it actually can be viewed in an optimistic, positive way. And the reason for that is if you look across the history of mankind and respiratory pandemics, typically respiratory pandemics become endemic, meaning that we learn to live with them or coexist with these infections, about the third year. And this is now the third year,” said Dr. Mark Mugiishi, president and CEO of HMSA.

The County of Maui Solid Waste Division announced that its bill payment window on the second floor of the One Main Plaza building at 2200 Main Street, Wailuku, is closed until further notice because of the ongoing surge of COVID-19 cases. 

The rapid spread of the omicron variant has caused a surge in demand for COVID-19 testing at Kaiser Permanente and other health care organizations.

“Individuals who do not show up for scheduled appointments deny a testing opportunity for someone else,” said Mayor Victorino.

The DOH is reporting a COVID-19 count of 1,384 today, including 71 on Maui and two on Molokaʻi. The latest data represents a total of 13,966 “active” cases statewide over two week, surpassing the Delta peak of 11,500.