Five of the 10 Hawaii Island COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization Friday were receiving care at Kona Community Hospital.
Two of the patients were being treated in the Kealakekua facility’s intensive care unit while another three were located in the med-surg acute care unit, according to a weekly update provided Friday by Judy Donovan, the hospital’s spokeswoman. One of the five patients was on a ventilator.
To date, 71 of the 1,459 Hawaii Island residents who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus have required hospitalization, according to Department of Health data. That equates to a hospitalization rate of 4.8% for Hawaii Island, which is below the statewide rate of 7.3%.
Meanwhile Friday, health officials reported 110 new cases of COVID-19 across the state, including 92 on Oahu, eight on Hawaii Island, two on Kauai, one on Maui and seven cases diagnosed among residents outside the state. The new cases bring the statewide tally to 16,412 since Feb. 28.
Over the past 14 days, Hawaii Island’s COVID-19 case count by 199 cases, according to the Department of Health. Nearly half of those case, or 88, were in the Kailua-Kona area followed by 29 in the South Kohala area, 15 in the Ocean View area and 21 in the Hilo area.
“Hawaii Island has seen continued community transmitted cases of Coronavirus in recent weeks. Department of Health data indicates that the new cases are concentrated in West Hawaii and in people under 40 years old. Due to this data, increased testing, especially in the Kona area, is being scheduled,” Hawaii County Civil Defense said in its Friday update.
Neither the state nor county reported any new coronavirus-related deaths Friday.
Of the 220 coronavirus-related deaths confirmed and reported by the state to date, 172 were on Oahu, 17 were on Maui, one on Lanai, 31 were on Hawaii Island and one was a Kauai resident receiving treatment in Arizona at the time he died.
Hawaii County Civil Defense has reported a total of fatalities at 48. The state has yet to confirm 17 of the deaths reported to date on Hawaii Island. Twenty-seven of the deaths were among residents of the Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home in Hilo and four were at Kona Community Hospital.