Big Island reports record-breaking 359 new COVID-19 cases
The Big Island on Monday reported a record-breaking 359 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total case count since late February 2020 to 13,909.
Since the start of the year on Saturday, 792 new cases alone have been reported on the island, according to Hawaii Emergency Management Agency data.
Statewide, 3,044 new cases were reported by health officials on Monday, bringing the statewide case count to 121,864.
According to HI-EMA, 27,314 new cases have been reported in Hawaii in the past 14 days, including 1,824 on the Big Island. There has been an average of 2,488.7 new cases the past seven days statewide with the Big Island averaging 194.47 cases per day.
Hawaii County’s seven-day test positivity rate was 14.6% Monday, below the state’s 16.7% positivity rate.
On Monday, nine people with COVID-19 remained hospitalized on the Big Island, unchanged from Sunday. Twenty-one of the island’s 24 ICU beds were available with three of the beds being used to treat a COVID-positive patient. Ten of the island’s 54 ventilators were in use; one for a COVID patient.
Despite the rapid increase in cases amid the spread of the omicron variant, Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth’s Spokesman Cyrus Johnasen said Monday that county COVID restrictions will remain unchanged thanks to hospitals still reporting low numbers.
No new coronavirus-related deaths were reported on Monday on the Big Island leaving the death toll at 153. Statewide the death toll Monday stood at 1,094.
Meanwhile, the state Department of Health reported Monday 66% of the Big Island’s total population had completed the vaccination process. Statewide, 74.4% of the population was fully vaccinated.
Mayor Mitch Roth, who contracted COVID-19 in December despite being fully vaccinated, will return to the office Tuesday, pending a negative test result, according to his spokesman Cyrus Johnasen.
