Hawaii’s COVID-19 cases near the 500 mark as 13 new cases are reported

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - There were just 13 new cases of coronavirus reported across Hawaii on Easter Sunday, bringing the state’s total to 499.

Of those, 310 have recovered and been released from isolation. Some 44 patients however did require hospitalization.

As of the noon update, no new deaths were immediately reported.

Here’s a look at the county-by-county breakdown of reported cases:

• Oahu: 350 (2 new)
• Maui County: 84 (6 new) (2 on Molokai, 0 new)
• Big Island: 39 (5 new)
• Kauai: 21 (2 new)
• Unknown: 3
• Diagnosed out of state: 2
• State total: 499

To get a more detailed breakdown of each county, including how many have recovered, click here.

About 18,600 people have been tested for coronavirus in Hawaii.

Sunday’s cases were all Hawaii adult residents. The DOH said more cases are showing evidence of community spread rather than travel-related cause.

A day earlier on Saturday, the total number of confirmed cases in the state jumped by 21. There was also another death reported, bringing the total number of COVID-19-related deaths in the state to nine.

The Department of Health said the latest patient to die tested positive for COVID-19 while being hospitalized. She was a woman over 65 years old who lived on Oahu and had underlying medical conditions.

Also on Saturday, Maui county saw the biggest one-day jump with 14 new cases. That was higher than Oahu’s five new cases and Hawaii Island’s three.

Health officials added that one minor was among the cases reported Saturday. Sixteen patients are Hawaii residents, two are non-residents and 11 cases are from community transmission.

A day earlier, two other COVID-19 fatalities were reported on Friday — one each on Oahu and Maui.

The latest losses, officials said, are a grim reminder of the danger coronavirus poses to the community.

And they urged to residents to brace for more bad news — even amid encouraging signs that aggressive social distancing mandates are helping stop the spread of the virus.

“This is a serious and life-threatening illness,” said state Health Director Bruce Anderson. “We expect there will be many more cases and, unfortunately, more deaths. Everyone really needs to stay home.”

State officials are continuing to ask residents to follow the state’s stay-at-home order and practice social distancing, even during the Easter holiday.

Below is a map provided by the DOH showing the number of confirmed cases based on patient zip codes.

Maui Memorial has confirmed that one of the fatalities Friday was a patient in its chronic care unit who died on April 7. DOH only learned about the death Friday morning, but officials could not explain the lag in reporting.

It was not immediately clear how the Maui patient contracted the disease, though the state Health Department said it is investigating whether the adult male patient may be linked to a cluster of cases at the hospital.

Officials did say that five of the nine new cases on the island Friday were linked to the hospital.

The other fatality confirmed Friday was a medically-fragile older woman on Oahu who had been hospitalized.

The percent for positive returns of tests in the state is around 2.6.

Officials are dialing up enforcement of social distancing orders. Friday night was the first night both Oahu and Maui County were under a nighttime curfew for the weekend.

And earlier in the day, authorities sent up drones on Oahu to broadcast stay-at-home messages to those at three popular Oahu beaches, including Waikiki and Lanikai.

• 1 in 5 seniors in Hawaii who have tested positive for coronavirus needed hospitalization
• Oahu, Maui to enforce stay-at-home order with nighttime curfew over Easter weekend
• 3 employees, a patient at Maui Memorial test positive for COVID-19 as cluster grows
• PHOTOS: Empty streets, boarded up shops tell pandemic’s story in Hawaii

In the city’s news conference Thursday announcing the curfew, Police Chief Susan Ballard said the majority of residents on Oahu are following the stay-at-home order and only venturing in public for essential activities.

“But there are few that are not following the rules,” she said.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell, meanwhile, said the city is beginning to see the positive impacts of “aggressive social distancing measures,” but added Hawaii isn’t out of the woods yet.

This story will be updated.

Copyright 2020 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.