Governor David Ige this afternoon announced he is reinstating the mandatory 14-day interisland travel quarantine for anyone traveling interisland. This takes effect on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020.
In making the announcement, he said, “There’s no question the virus is surging in the state.” He said the decision came amid record high numbers on Oʻahu and an increase in hospitalizations.
Gov. Ige said that in conjunction with Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell, he has agreed to reinstate restrictions on Oʻahu. “We agreed that we wanted to be more targeted to minimize more damage to our community, while keeping our community safe,” said Gov. Ige noting that the strategy is to eliminate large gatherings both indoors and outdoors and do a better job with enforcement.
Mayor Caldwell is calling the new phase “Act with Care – Do Not Gather.” He said the new order takes effect tomorrow, Aug. 7, through Sept. 5, 2020.
Under the order, all city and county parks on Oʻahu–all 300 of them will be closed. This includes beaches fronting parks, and all state parks and beach parks. No activities will be allowed on beaches or in the parks; however individuals can traverse the parks to get to activities in the water to swim, dive, fish and conduct Native Hawaiian gathering rights. Individuals can also still utilize bathrooms. Again, this order is specific to the island of Oʻahu.
*View live stream below: courtesy Office of the Governor/ Facebook.
News Conference: Aug. 6 COVID-19 briefing
WATCH LIVE: August 6, 2020 News Conference. COVID-19 briefing.Joining me are• Dr. Bruce Anderson, Director, Dept. of Health• Mayor Kirk Caldwell, City and County of Honolulu• Chief Susan Ballard, Honolulu Police Department• Dwight Nadamoto, Honolulu Prosecutor
Posted by Governor David Ige on Thursday, August 6, 2020
The state recorded 53 new COVID-19 cases so far today, but state officials say the figure is an undercount as a result of technical difficulties with their electronic laboratory reporting system. State officials plan to update the count as soon as the issues are resolved.
State Health Director, Dr. Bruce Anderson said he fully expects to see at least 200 cases today. He noted that there are 117 hospitalized patients statewide–115 of them on Oʻahu.
The preliminary count brings the total cases in Hawaiʻi over the course of the pandemic to 2,815. To date, 1433 cases have recovered, 223 individuals have required hospitalization and there are currently 1353 active cases in the state, 95% of them on the island of Oʻahu.
Six of the past nine days have been in the triple-digits. Last week’s high numbers were partially attributed to a backlog from closed labs during Hurricane Douglas. This week’s high numbers have been partially attributed to delayed reporting over the weekend, a result of private clinical laboratory reporting issues. Health officials yesterday said the high numbers demonstrate that people should not be letting down their guard in terms of prevention measures.
Cases by island include:
- Hawaiʻi County: 122 (7 active; 115 released from isolation; 4 required hospitalization)
- Honolulu County: 2445 (1293 active; 1130 released from isolation; 190 required hospitalization; 22 deaths)
- Kauaʻi County: 47 (1 active; 46 released from isolation; 1 required hospitalization;
- Maui County: 178 (30 active; 142 released from isolation; 26 required hospitalization; 6 deaths)
- Pending: 0
- Residents diagnosed outside of Hawaiʻi: 23 (2 required hospitalization, 1 death of an elderly Kaua‘i resident who died out of state, in Arizona)
There were also two COVID-19 related deaths reported today, bringing the statewide total to 29 since the pandemic began, including 22 on Oʻahu, six in Maui County, and one Kauaʻi resident who was hospitalized in Arizona. Hawaiʻi has a mortality rate of 1.9 deaths per 100,000, according to Lt. Gov. Green. Prior COVID-19 related deaths are posted here.
