State reports 121 new COVID-19 cases, 2 additional fatalities

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - The state Health Department reported 121 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday along with two additional fatalities on Oahu.

Of the new cases, 92 were on Oahu, 27 on the Big Island, one on Maui and one was diagnosed out-of-state. The new infections bring the number of cases in Hawaii since the pandemic began to 12,410.

The triple-digit increase in new cases comes after three days of smaller daily increases.

But some are concerned Hawaii could see another uptick in infections, just as the state also prepares for the Oct. 15 launch of a pre-travel testing program meant to welcome back trans-Pacific visitors.

The Hawaii Pandemic Applied Modeling Group is forecasting growth in new infections over the next two weeks. Under its “expected” model, Hawaii could see about 150 new cases a day by mid-October.

Meanwhile, the two new fatalities bring the official death toll from the virus in Hawaii to 136.

State Health Department officials said one of those who died was a man between the ages of 20 and 29. The other was a woman in the 70- to 79-year-old age category. Both died in hospitals.

The new infections are out of 2,049 tests administered, or a positivity rate of 5.9%.

Meanwhile, the state said there are 1,976 “active” cases in Hawaii, which means those people have not been released from isolation.

The island-by-island breakdown of cases is below:

• 11,197 total cases
• 9,277 released from isolation
• 747 required hospitalization
• 111 deaths

• 730 total cases
• 600 released from isolation
• 41 required hospitalization
• 15 deaths

• 391 total cases
• 365 released from isolation
• 56 required hospitalization
• 9 deaths

• 59 total cases
• 56 released from isolation
• 1 required hospitalization
• 0 deaths

• 33 total cases
• 2 required hospitalization
• 1 death

This story will be updated.

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