COVID-19 testing will be conducted this week on hundreds of staff and students at the University of the Nations Kona following an outbreak last week of the novel coronavirus.
Thirty cases associated with the campus had been identified as of Monday, said University of the Nations Kona (UofNK) spokesperson Johnny Gillespie. Twenty-two of those cases are persons residing at the downtown Kailua-Kona campus while eight are staff members that live off the site. All are isolated.
“All of the cases, so far, have actually been in quarantine since early last week Monday when all were isolated through contact tracing,” said Gillespie.
Monday’s tally of cases was higher than Saturday’s 26, though the school reported no new cases on Sunday and Monday. Gillespie attributed the difference from Saturday to Monday to a “reporting discrepancy,” not an actual increase in cases.
UofNK has said the majority of the cases were “due to the local Kona community spread,” though four have been deemed travel-related.
Gillespie estimated a couple hundred staffers would take part in the campuswide testing being conducted Tuesday by the Department of Health. An estimated 300 students who have been in quarantine since arriving in late September will be tested on Thursday
“It may be more depending on how wide they choose to go,” he said, referring to state health officials. “It’s really up to the Department of Health — they are the ones calling the shots here.”
Despite the number of cases, Gillespie said the university, thanks to the “swift” assistance provided by Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim and the Department of Health, has the situation under control.
“We have a high degree of confidence that there really is minimal risk to the wider community,” he said. … “We’ll know a lot more after that round of testing happens.”
UofNK said it has been operating since September under a “safer-at-home” level. At the request of the mayor, that level was upgraded to “stay-at-home.” All campus residents (staff and students) are voluntarily self-isolating with only essential workers, such as food service and security, being allowed on the campus.
The campus is also operating at less than 40% capacity, which UofNK said is below CDC guidelines for universities and colleges.
“We believe this increased step of self isolation in addition to our temporary suspension of activities is prudent and appropriate. We know that the virus is an unseen threat and we wish to assure our Island Community that we are treating the current rise in cases with the highest level of attention,” the university said Saturday evening.
Jason DelaCruz with the Hawaii District Health Office commended the university’s response to the cases, adding that UofN Kona’s medical team, security and administration had met and reviewed plans with the department prior to arrival of students from outside the state.
“I think that they should be recognized for their aggressive stance in their Trans-Pacific travel for students and faculty. They had a very robust response,” he said.
Ironically, DelaCruz noted, the evidence indicates the transmission of the virus occurred locally,
“This is just a sobering reminder for all of us that we can plan for importation, but if we’re not maintaining our own activities and recognizing the importance of local prevention, we’re not going to halt transmission. We can’t just point the finger at travelers come Oct. 15,” he said. “It’s really our own individual behaviors that are going to curb this much more than any governor’s policy on travel at this point. We have local transmission, so we have to think more locally minded in terms of our behavior and not consider this (virus) an external threat.”
Meanwhile Monday, state health officials reported 52 new COVID-19 cases, including 10 on Hawaii Island, 41 on Oahu and one in Maui County.
With the new cases, the statewide COVID-19 tally reached 12,854 while Hawaii Island’s total number of cases since Feb. 28 hit 820, according to the Hawaii COVID-19 Joint Information Center.
According to the Department of Health, 94 cases had onset dates within 28 days in the Kailua-Kona area and 104 cases had onset dates within the past 28 days in the Hilo area.
As of noon Monday, 181 of the known cases on Hawaii Island were considered “active.”
To date, 44 Hawaii Island residents have required hospitalization, including 12 who were still receiving hospital care on Monday.
The island has also seen 30 deaths, including 27 at the Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home in Hilo, according to Hawaii County Civil Defense, which reported one death on Monday.
The state has yet to confirm the last 15 deaths on Hawaii Island, but did announce one new death on Monday among an Oahu woman in her 80s who had underlying health conditions and had been hospitalized.
Of the 157 coronavirus-related deaths reported and confirmed among Hawaii residents to date, 129 were on Oahu, 12 were on Maui, 15 were on Hawaii Island, and one was a Kauai resident receiving treatment in Arizona at the time he died.