While mass COVID-19 testing is underway on Oahu, Mayor Harry Kim said Friday that the overwhelmingly positive response to localized community testing in Keaukaha this week has obviated the need for “surge testing” on the Big Island.
The state recently announced the availability of the federally funded surge testing on Oahu, wherein federal, state and community partners hope to test 5,000 people per day over a two-week span for a total of 70,000 tests.
“We didn’t need to do that when we had clinics who were more than happy to do the testing,” Kim said. “The community was very responsive. They helped set up the testing, and I’m proud of them.”
Hundreds of people showed up for testing in Keaukaha this week as the number of COVID-19 cases spiked on the Big Island, particularly in Hilo. There were 26 new cases on Friday.
Statewide, there have been three weeks of daily triple-digit COVID-19 numbers, Gov. David Ige said during a Facebook livestream Friday afternoon, “which has really stressed the health care system and led to the 14-day shutdown that we are currently in (on Oahu).
“Once again, we all need to work together as a community to really flatten the curve and get COVID-19 back under control, just as we had for the months of April and May.”
The state Department of Health on Friday reported 265 new COVID-19 cases statewide.
During the livestream, Ige spoke with Ed Sniffen, deputy director of the state Department of Transportation Highways Division.
The state and the City and County of Honolulu are coordinating with multiple agencies to use the H-3 Freeway on Oahu for surge testing on Tuesday and Thursday.
“It’s not surprising that we see so many people from Hawaii wanting to come out and get tested,” Sniffen said. “We all know (the) aloha spirit. We want to take care of each other and providing this surge testing opportunity is huge. For us at the DOT, we want to make sure we maximize that potential given the goals that we’re shooting for — (70,000) tests in the next 14 days. We’ve seen the mass sites we have on (Oahu) get inundated and … overrun in a lot of different ways … .”
Ige said that because more people will be tested, the state will have higher numbers of COVID-19 cases.
“I don’t want people to be surprised. We do expect this to happen,” he said. “We will be conducting more and more tests for the 14-day period, but we think it’s so important because it will help us to get a better idea of where the virus is and how best we can contain it.”
Reporter Michael Brestovansky contributed to this story.
Email Stephanie Salmons at ssalmons@hawaiitribune-herald.com.