By Alfred Acenas
(EBC Hawaii-Pacific)

HONOLULU (Eagle News) — A recent spike in Covid-19 cases in the Aloha State may be attributed to more residents not staying at home and gathering in public areas, according to a report by the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization.

Despite progress in vaccinations, Hawaii has undergone a rise in new infections with recent cases concentrated among younger, unvaccinated people.

“Rising vaccination rates will help push new infections down, while rising mobility may push new infections up,” the study said. “Case counts over the coming weeks will largely depend on these two forces, and their relative effects will dictate how quickly Hawaii can control the virus and ultimately return to normalcy.”

On April 3, the seven-day average for new Covid-19 cases hit a peak of 117 new daily cases. It has since declined slightly.

A new mobility report by te university shows 27% of residents are staying completely at home on a given day in early April 2021, only 7% more than pre-pandemic levels. During the infection peaks in March and August 2020, 40% remained at home.

The data compares mobility across islands and in neighborhoods.

In Maui, there has been a steep decline in the share of residents staying at home. That correlates with the timing of rising infections.

Information is also provided on foot traffic at various locations relative to normal levels.

The number of people dining at restaurants has recovered to 63% of the pre-pandemic level.  After a long period of almost no activity, foot traffic around hotels has recently increased to 54% of the normal level.

Meanwhile, visitor arrivals have been trending upwards to between 12,000 to about 21,000 per day in April. That’s still well below the pre-pandemic average of 30,000 visitors a day.
(Eagle News Service)