Both Hawaii County and the state set records Thursday for the most new COVID-19 cases in a single day.
As county officials had predicted on Wednesday, the state Department of Health reported 242 new cases Thursday on the Big Island, breaking the previous record of 206 set during the delta surge earlier this year.
Statewide, the DOH reported 3,484 new cases Thursday, obliterating the previous record of 2,177, which was set Sunday. The highest number of cases during the delta surge was 1,678.
Since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, there have been 106,350 COVID-19 cases statewide, but 84,452 of those cases occurred this year.
Following the same trend, the Big Island has had 12,861 cases since March 2020, with 10,913 of them happening in 2021.
So far, despite ballooning case numbers, the hospitalization rates are still low.
Hilo Medical Center spokeswoman Elena Cabatu said Thursday there were only five virus patients in the hospital. Four of those patients were fully vaccinated. The fifth was not and was in the ICU.
By comparison, Cabatu said, during the delta surge, HMC had as many as 44 COVID-19 patients at once, with as many as 22 in the ICU.
“Every surge is different, and this time there’s a lot more folks vaccinated,” Cabatu said.
However, she added that health experts are preparing for another sharp uptick in cases next week from people who attend large New Year’s Eve celebrations. Cabatu strongly urged residents to “reevaluate their New Year’s plans” and avoid gathering.
“Just pull a chair out onto your lanai and sit and look at the fireworks from there,” Cabatu said.
No new restrictions were announced Thursday at the county level despite the record number of infections.
Mayor Mitch Roth, who contracted COVID-19 himself last week, had reduced the maximum allowable indoor gathering size to 10 people earlier this week, but outdoor gatherings with as many as 100 people are still permissible.
“Our administration has been working closely with the DOH and our Civil Defense administration to proactively monitor the numbers over the course of the pandemic and anticipated the rise in case counts that we saw today, and will likely see over the next week or two,” read a statement from Roth spokesman Cyrus Johnasen. “That said, we have also been working with our on-island medical providers to assess available resources and remain ready to respond if the surge results in a strain on medical capacity islandwide. The surge is certainly something that remains a threat to our island, especially as we head into the new year, but we are confident in the will of our community to do the right thing for the right reasons this weekend and beyond.”
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.