COVID Confirmed Oahu Hawaii ex-Seattle Washington

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 the patient was an elderly man who lives on Oahu who recently traveled to Washington State

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/03/09/department-health-announces-second-case-covid-/

[niman]

Elderly Oahu man ‘very ill’ after contracting COVID-19 during Washington State trip

Elderly Oahu man ‘very ill’ after contracting COVID-19 during Washington State trip

By Dillon Ancheta | March 8, 2020 at 4:07 PM HST - Updated March 8 at 10:54 PM

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Department of Health officials announced a second case of COVID-19 in Hawaii on Sunday.

In a news advisory, they said the case was a “presumptive positive.”

Gov. David Ige said the patient was an elderly man who lives on Oahu who recently traveled to Washington State.

Officials said he fell ill on March 2 and returned to Hawaii on March 4. Late Sunday night, health officials confirmed he arrived in Honolulu from Seattle on Hawaiian Airlines Flight HA21 on March 4.

 

After arriving in Honolulu, he went to an urgent care facility. During his initial visit, a COVID-19 test was not done. Officials are working to figure out why a test wasn’t done then.

 

 

 

Elderly Oahu man recently traveled to Washington State becomes Hawaii's second COVID-19 case

On March 7, an ambulance then took the man to a hospital from his home. That’s when staff conducted the COVID-19 test which came back as a presumptive positive on Sunday. The test was conducted due to his travel history, officials said.

“This is a very ill individual and from what we understand of the story, basically stayed at home in bed until the ambulance was called,” State Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park said.

The patient is in isolation at a Kaiser Permanente facility, according to a statement by the company.

 

“Per CDC infection control protocol, we can acknowledge that Kaiser Permanente has one coronavirus patient in isolation and as previously reported, is also overseeing the care of a patient who is home in self-isolation,” the statement said.

It adds, “Kaiser Permanente has confronted highly infectious diseases for years. Staff are following CDC protocols and we’re confident we can safely treat patients who’ve been infected with this virus, with limited risk to other patients, members, and employees.”

State officials say they are working with the CDC to identify those who may have come in close contact with the man as a part of the ongoing investigation.

“Primarily, did you have face-to-face contact with this person for a significant time? That’s what we’re looking for. That’s what is the risk," Dr. Park said. “If you just passed someone, that’s not really the risk. That’s not the risk that we’re looking for.”

 

 

Health officials are currently investigating who might have come in contact with the patient. They are working to contact passengers who were two rows in front of or behind him on his flight home.

“At this time as you might imagine, our staff at the department are working very hard to try and determine if there are any other potential close contacts to this individual. From the history we have thus far, we are confident there are very few in terms of direct contact in the State of Hawaii,” Dr. Park said.

In a statement, Hawaiian Airlines said, in part:

“The health and safety of our passengers and employees is our priority, and we are cooperating with public health agencies to support notification of passengers as the CDC deems necessary. We have also reached out to our crew and agents who supported this flight to make sure that they are healthy and supported. As is true for our entire transpacific fleet, the aircraft that operated HA21 was thoroughly sanitized upon arrival by a team of 16 cleaners who utilized disinfectants that effectively kill most viruses, including COVID-19.”

 

Despite the latest diagnosis, health officials are pointing to one thin silver lining: The virus hasn’t shown signs of person-to-person transmission in Hawaii so far.

“We have not yet had any cases of COVID-19 that have been transmitted among residents here in Hawaii. All the individuals we’ve identified so far have a travel history to some area where COVID-19 is circulating outside of Hawaii,” DOH Director Bruce Anderson said. “That’s the good news.”

Lynn Kawano

 

✔@LynnKawano

 

 

BREAKING: Hawaii’s second case of coronavirus is connected to the Washington State outbreak not the cruise ship. And this person is not connected to the first confirmed case in the state that was announced last Friday. We are waiting for press conference: https://bit.ly/2IrUuTs 

 

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Details are limited as officials acknowledge the investigation is in its very early days. They stressed they are diligently working to find out more information on the case alongside the CDC.

Park added that for those who may have been on the same flight as the man, CDC recommendations would call for a closer look at travelers in the same row as the patient, along with two rows in front and two rows behind.

 

[ LIST: Latest local information on the coronavirus outbreak ]

This story will be updated.