By Alfred Acenas
EBC Hawaii Bureau
HONOLULU (Eagle News) – Hawaii reported 87 and 45 new cases of COVID-19 on August 1 and 2, respectively. However, officials were quick to dash any hopes of case numbers trending down, especially after the state received new cases in triple digits for the first time for several days last week.
The daily reporting of positive COVID-19 cases in Hawaii has been temporarily affected by missing data from Clinical Laboratories of Hawaii, a private laboratory conducting most of the tests in the state.
“This is likely a result of recent modifications in data reporting required by the US Department of Health and Human Services,” said State Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park. “We have advised the affected laboratory to provide manual reporting of data until they’re able to correct the reporting issues. This is impacting our ability to quickly identify and investigate new persons with COVID-19 and to contact trace.”
DOH will be expected to update case numbers from July 31 onward.
All but one of the newly reported cases on Sunday were on Oahu, with one on Maui. In Honolulu, sources reported numerous large beach gatherings on Saturday, including one at Waimea Bay, which involved promotion of a rock jumping contest. A photo provided by a group tracking quarantine violators shows a large crowd of young people atop a jumping rock on the west side of the bay. It appears no one was wearing masks or practicing physical distancing. On Maui, gatherings of more than ten people were outlawed last week.
“It’s disappointing and dangerous to people’s health, for anyone to continue to encourage and actively promote these big groups,” stressed Dr. Park. “Everyone should avoid large gatherings and crowded places and use proven, common-sense, and simple steps to protect our community from COVID-19”.
The DOH Disease Outbreak Control Division (DOCD), which Park leads, is receiving an increasing number of calls related to COVID-19 guidance for businesses, including cleaning and disinfection guidelines and recommended procedures in response to a positive coronavirus case in an employee.
Detailed guidance is available at the following website: https://health.hawaii.gov/coronavirusdisease2019/files/2020/05/What-to-Do-if-a-Person-at-Your-Worksite-has-COVID-19.pdf
In addition, everyone is advised to call 211 for information and guidance on the coronavirus. DOH has asked businesses not call the DOH disease reporting line to avoid slowing down investigations and contact tracing efforts.
(Eagle News Service)