State Department of Health Director Bruce Anderson provided more detail about the state’s COVID-19 cases at Gov. Ige’s Friday, April 3 media update.

Anderson noted that the third COVID-19 death, reported today, was an elderly adult O‘ahu resident who had been hospitalized in critical condition on life support for several weeks after traveling to Washington state.  All 34 of the new COVID-19 cases in today’s update are adults.  Two are visitors, and 32 are residents.   One of Maui County’s cases  is the first positive on Moloka’i, and may be travel related.  That adult is on O’ahu getting care.

The number of individuals tested by private and state laboratories numbers is now 12,283.  Of those, 11,959 are negative and 317 were positive.   Seven test results were inconclusive.

Anderson and Ige also said they are formulating a state policy on the use of face masks.  The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is now  recommending that people wear face masks in public places such as stores, while still maintaining a six-foot distance from other people.

Dr. Bruce Anderson, Director of the Dept. of Health said, “Many of us may be walking around unaware that we may be carrying coronavirus and when we cough, sneeze, and to a lesser degree, even speak, cloth masks may block infectious droplets from spreading. Protection is maximized when facemasks are used consistently and properly to avoid contaminating the hands or face of someone wearing one.”  Anderson added that fabric masks should be replaced when they become moist and washed after each use.

Hawai‘i County Mayor Harry Kim recommended Friday that people wear cloth face coverings when in public to protect others from the spread of COVID-19.  The recommendation reflects one made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is supported by the Mayors of the State of Hawaii.

The Mayor made clear that he did not recommend surgical or N-95 masks for general use, because supplies need to be reserved for first responders and health care providers. Homemade masks can be made from household items, old clothing or bandannas. For more information on how to make a face mask from fabric, please call Civil Defense at 935-0031.

Today’s statistics are below.  The State Department of Health provides a daily update at noon.

 

HAWAI‘I COVID-19 COUNTS AS OF 12 NOON, APRIL 3, 2020

County of Diagnosis	New Cases	Reported since 2/28/2020 (including new cases)	Total Released from Isolation
Honolulu	31	237	49
Hawai‘i	2	20	6
Maui*	9	36	11
Kaua‘i	1	13	3
Residents Diagnosed outside HI	0	2
Pending investigation**	-9	11
Total	34	319	69
Deaths	1	3

 

*Includes the first positive case on Molokai.

*“Pending investigation” refers to positive cases that have an unknown county of diagnosis at the time of this report. As more information becomes available for these cases, they are assigned to the proper County of Diagnosis. A negative number indicates the number of previously unknown cases that have now been assigned to a county.