Hawaii is continuing its triple-digit case increases of COVID-19, with 220 new confirmed cases reported today.  The state’s total count is now 5,042, but the State Department of Health says it has removed one case from the Maui County, Hawaii Island, and O’ahu counts, due to updated information–so today’s total count is only 217 more than yesterday.

The total number of active cases statewide is around 3,161.  These are people who are under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Health to monitor, ensure they are in isolation, and do contact tracing to find out whom they might have exposed to the virus and where they got it.

Hawaii County added 4 new cases and now has a cumulative 148.  The active cases appear to be 23 or 24, according to State Health.

Kaua’i has no new cases, Maui County has 14 new, and O’ahu added 202.

The State Department of Health reported fewer tests yesterday, only around 2,388 compared to the mid to high 3,000s in the previous three days.  The positivity rate yesterday was around 6%, but the previous three days had positivity rates above that, up to 9.36% positive.

The state still has not been clear about the contact tracing situation, but has said — and the State DOH website still says — that there are at least 105 contact tracers working and that 198 more have been trained.  In press briefings, both State Health Director Bruce Anderson and state epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park have said more than 400 tracers have been trained by the University of Hawaii in a program DOH helped develop.  On Friday, August 7, several State Senators who are members of the Senate Select Committee on COVID-19 visited the Department of Health, and found few contact tracers working.  Some said they had more than 100 COVID-19 positive patients to trace–one up to 192.

Gov. David Ige wrote a letter to Senate President Ron Kouchi saying the visit was “neither respectful nor appropriate,” and Dr. Bruce Anderson called the visit “blatant political showmanship.”

This past Friday, Dr. Jennifer Smith, an epidemiologist in the State Department of Health went public in saying the State DOH in reality funnels all the COVID-19 cases through just 9 investigators.   Last Thursday, Gov. David Ige announced the State had hired Emily Roberson, PhD to handle contact tracing, a job formerly under the direction of State Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park.

The state has seen no new deaths from COVID-19, and that count is 40.

The state’s detailed report: