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The number of new COVID-19 cases in Hawaii is rising and remained in the triple-digit range for the fifth day in a row on Monday.
The state’s health ministry has reported 132 new cases of the coronavirus, the fifth consecutive day of the number of cases exceeding 100 after a high of 166 on Thursday. Of the new cases reported on Monday, 27 were pediatric, about 20% of the total.
Hospitalizations are also on the rise, and the positivity rate, or the percentage of people tested who tested positive for COVID-19, has also averaged 3.3%.
State and Honolulu leaders, however, are not ready to reinstate restrictions that were relaxed on July 8 for travelers and residents, unlike in parts of the continent.
“We are closely monitoring the number of new cases and are concerned that the 7-day average is over 100,” Governor David Ige said in a statement. “We are also monitoring the number of COVID hospitalizations, patients on ventilators and in intensive care. We have not seen a corresponding increase in the number of hospitalizations or COVID cases in intensive care so far, and our healthcare capacity is not threatened at this point. “
“We continue to monitor and evaluate the data on a consistent basis,” he continued, “and we will make the appropriate decisions. The mask’s mandate is clearly an important part of our response and our efforts to protect our community. I continue to remind the people of Hawaii to be vigilant. “
While Los Angeles County dropped its indoor mask requirements, only to reinstate them later, Hawaii has always kept them in place. Ige said he has no plans to drop the indoor mask mandate until the state hits a 70% vaccination rate.
On Monday, the American Academy of Pediatrics also recommended that anyone over the age of 2 wear masks to school this fall, even if they are fully immunized.
Mayor Rick Blangiardi has said returning to level 4, now that the city has reached level 5, is not an option.
“A key factor to note is that the disease is still prevalent in our community and this increase in cases reflects the spread among unvaccinated residents, including children who are not eligible for vaccination because they are too young and are infected. by adult members of the household. Blangiardi said in a statement. “Going back to level 4 is not an option. Now is not the time to be complacent. Getting the vaccine is safe and easy and I urge anyone who can get the vaccine now. “
The increase is mainly due to the delta variant, which is highly transmissible and now found in all four major counties of Hawaii, according to Dr. Janet Berreman, pediatrician and district health officer of Kauai.
She sees it as a more contributing factor than the July 4 rallies, noting that the spike following this year’s Independence Day is higher than the one that followed last year’s holiday weekend. This year Hawaii has also started with a higher number of cases as the holiday weekend approaches, with the rate of increase continuing to rise.
The Department of Health is also seeing residents of Hawaii who have traveled to the mainland and returned again while infected but not realizing it. Las Vegas, for example, is ripe for transmission as indoor environments attract people from all over and masks were not required recently.
Additionally, Berreman said the Department of Health is seeing a growing number of unvaccinated adults infecting children under the age of 12, who are not eligible for COVID-19 vaccines.
“The most important thing to protect children too young to be eligible for vaccines is to have everyone around them – everyone in their household and who spends time around them who is eligible – to do so. vaccinate, ”she said. “Everyone who can be vaccinated should be vaccinated now. Hurry up. “
Although statistically the children have not suffered as badly as the kupuna, which are more at risk, they are not immune to COVID-19.
“There has been very serious illness in very young children, including preschool age, including in our state, so children can get very sick,” she said. “Even if you have mild illness, you can continue to have a long COVID and prolonged symptoms. You can have long-term consequences even if the symptoms seem relatively mild.
Health officials say COVID-19 vaccines are effective against the delta variant, now the dominant strain across the country, which has doubled the number of cases every two weeks.
The vast majority of new cases are among those who are not vaccinated.
As of Monday, 59.3% of the population of Hawaii had completed vaccinations and 65.7% had started vaccinations.
Health officials are urging those who are still hesitant to get a COVID-19 vaccine to speak to their doctor, seek answers to questions, and get vaccinated to protect loved ones and the community.
Hawaii’s vaccination incentive campaign launched its second round of prizes on Monday, including cash prizes of $ 1,000 to $ 5,000.
Vaccines are now available walk-in at many sites as well as local retail pharmacies, and mobile vaccination clinics are reaching schools and shopping malls.
Dr Julius Pham of The Queen’s Health Systems shared at a press conference on the incentives that the vast majority of patients admitted to hospital with the coronavirus are not vaccinated.
The virus can devastate an entire family, he said. Recently, several family members from the same household were admitted to hospital, he said, with one member having died in the intensive care unit.
“It’s a horrible disease,” he said. “It affects the whole family. As a primary care provider… we never want to see him again. So one of the best ways to protect our communities and our families is to get vaccinated. “
Tim Brown, infectious disease modeler and principal investigator at the East-West Center, believes the delta variant is reason enough to tighten the restrictions again.
“We should take back control,” he said. “The governor is right to maintain the masking mandate, especially given what we know about Delta.”
Large gatherings in confined spaces are now dangerous, Brown said, even for fully vaccinated people.
One only has to look at what is happening in the UK, he said, where transmission and hospitalization rates are increasing despite a 60% vaccination rate.
What is concerning, he said, is that vaccination rates are dropping with each age group, which is the same as those most likely to gather in groups and the least likely to wear masks.
“The combination of lower vaccination rates, an easily transmitted virus and low masking – this is basically the feeding ground of the virus at the moment,” he said. “We may think that we are done with the virus, but the virus is not done with us.”
The state’s 70% vaccination target is no longer sufficient to achieve herd immunity, due to the delta variant, Brown said.
“This is not enough because the remaining 30% are basically fully delta sensitive, and the delta is extremely infectious,” he said. “Ultimately now with something as infectious as the delta, we won’t get there with vaccination alone. We will need a combination of vaccinations and other interventions that we use, such as masking and improving ventilation, which we do not stress enough. ”
On the road, Brown said, there could be other variations after delta.
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