Hawaii COVID Cases Jump To 6

[niman]

She is the sixth person to test positive for the coronavirus in Hawaii and the fourth person whose positive result was announced today.

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/03/14/breaking-news/two-visitors-on-kauai-test-positive-for-coronavirus-county-officials-announce/

[niman]

Maui visitor tests positive for coronavirus as cases statewide jump to 6

• By Star-Advertiser Staff
•  
• March 14, 2020 
•  
• Updated 9:07 pm

• UPDATE 8:50 p.m.

  Maui County officials announced that a female visitor on Maui tested positive for COVID-19 this evening.

  She is in isolation and will be monitored by the state Department of Health.

  She is the sixth person to test positive for the coronavirus in Hawaii and the fourth person whose positive result was announced today.

  Officials said Gov. David Ige will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. Sunday where he plans to discuss the Maui case and the Oahu case announced earlier this evening.

  6:43 p.m.

  Honolulu officials said tonight a person on Oahu has tested positive for coronavirus.

   

  The person was under investigation for the coronavirus and test results came back positive tonight, a spokesman for Mayor Kirk Caldwell said.

  This is the fifth person in Hawaii who has tested positive for the coronavirus.

   

  Gov. David Ige will hold a press conference at 1 p.m. Sunday for more information on the case.

  1:25 p.m.

  State officials are working to retrace the footsteps of a man and woman who visited Maui and Kauai before testing positive for the coronavirus.

  After the governor announced the couple had stayed at a hotel in Lahaina while vacationing on Maui, Mayor Michael Victorino released a statement today that state and county health officials are “investigating this matter throughly.”

  “The State DOH is leading this investigation and will provide further information,” Victorino said in a statement. “We want to ask the public to remain calm and stay informed through official sources, including the Governor’s Office, DOH and County of Maui.”

  The cases are the third and fourth cases of COVID-19 in the state, all of which have been related to travel and contact with someone infected by coronavirus outside of Hawaii. So far, there have been no deaths related to the virus in the islands, and there has been no confirmed so-called community spread.

  Gov. David Ige said at a news conference today that the Indiana couple is staying in an isolated area while they are recovering. He said the couple traveled on a direct flight from the mainland to Maui via United Airlines on March 2. He did not say where on the mainland the couple started their journey.

  Ige gave the following account of the couple’s time in Hawaii:

   

  >> The couple stayed at a hotel on Lahaina from March 2 to March 8 and shortly afterward, “patient A” developed a fever and a cough and had shortness of breath.

  >> On March 4, the patient was tested for the flu, but the test was negative. The same day, “patient B” began feeling ill.

  >> On March 8, the couple flew on Hawaiian Airlines Flight 149 from Maui to Kauai, where they were staying at the Kauai Marriott until officials moved them to an isolation facility provided by the county.

  Ige said “patient A” went to a clinic on Kauai on Monday and received antibiotics, then was seen at Wilcox Memorial Hospital on Thursday. At Wilcox, the couple notified healthcare individuals that they had been in close contact with someone diagnosed with coronavirus.

  The couple was given a test on Thursday and a positive result for COVID-19 came back late Friday.

  Ige said the state is working to contact anyone who may have come into contact with the couple during their travel in the islands to notify them and urge them to self-monitor for any symptoms.

  PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

  A couple, who traveled to Maui and Kauai, were confirmed as Hawaii’s third and fourth coronavirus cases, state officials announced today.

  Three medical professionals are currently in self-isolation after coming into close contact with the couple, Gov. David Ige said today at a press conference, adding a detailed account:

  “The two individuals — an adult male and a female — traveled from the mainland on a direct flight to Maui arriving on March 2 on United Airlines. They stayed at a hotel in Lahaina from March 2 through March 8. Shortly after arrival, case A developed a fever, cough and shortness of breath. On March 4, case A was seen at an urgent care facility and given rapid flu tests that tested negative. And on that same day case B started feeling ill. On March 7, case B was seen at an urgent care facility. On March 8, both flew on Hawaiian Airlines flight 149 to Kauai. From March 9 through the 13th, they stayed on Kauai. On March 9, case A was seen at an urgent care facility and prescribed antibiotics. On March 12, case A was seen at Wilcox Memorial Hospital and at that setting they informed the healthcare professionals they had close contact with an individual that was COVID-19 positive.”

   

  Hawaii Department of Health officials said they immediately notified the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and plan to follow up with those who came in close contact with the individuals, according to a statement.

  In an email statement after midnight, Kauai County officials said that on Friday night they “were informed that the test results for the two Persons Under Investigation here on Kauai were returned positive for coronavirus or COVID-19. The two adult visitors — one male and one female — are currently in an isolation facility provided by the county, away from the general public. They continue to be monitored by the state Department of Health.”

  The statement did not give any information on the patients or their current condition.

  Hawaii’s first confirmed COVID-19 patient is a man who was a passenger on the Grand Princess cruise from San Francisco to Mexico from Feb. 11 to 21. The man traveled home to Honolulu with no symptoms but became ill while at home on March 1, sought medical care and later tested positive. The man was said to be “doing fine” at home, according to state health officials.

  The second Hawaii patient is an Oahu man in his 90s who fell ill March 2 while traveling in Washington state, flew home to Honolulu on March 4, and was hospitalized on March 7. He was said to be in critical condition and uncommunicative in Kaiser Permanente’s Moanalua medical center.

   

  Health officials declined to release further information on the two men, citing federal laws protecting patient privacy.

  A Japanese couple in February and a Canadian doctor this month also tested positive for COVID-19 after returning home from Hawaii vacations.