The Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Dashboard for Wednesday September 23, at 5:23 a.m.:

Worldwide cases: 31,673,086     Worldwide deaths: 965,893

U.S. cases: 6,902,930   U.S. deaths:  201,120

According to the Dashboard, the reported worldwide case report increased by 298,290 in the last 24 hours.  Deaths worldwide increased by  6,479.

According to the Johns Hopkins Dashboard, the United States has added 41,719 cases in the last 24 hours.  In that time,  the number of reported deaths from  COVID-19 increased by 1,115.

Hawaii’s case count:  11,522. The state is counting 120 confirmed deaths, although that does not include all the Hawaii County deaths. The number of active cases in the state has dropped to approximately 6,410.

On Monday, the state only added 63 cases, and neither Kaua’i nor Maui County had any new cases.  O’ahu had 55 new cases, and the Big Island 8.  The Big Island’s total case count is 659, with around 158 active cases.  The island has suffered 27 deaths from COVID-19.  The Yukio Okutsu Veterans Home has had 25 of those deaths.  Investigations by the Veterans Administration and the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency point to lacks in proper COVID-19 precautions, as Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim has demanded that Gov. David Ige remove Avalon Health Care from running the facility.

The good news is that the state’s transmission rate is now just below .8%, meaning anybody with the virus is transmitting it to just under 1 person.  The state now has the lowest transmission rate in the country, following having the highest transmission rate in August.

On O’ahu, Mayor Kirk Caldwell is easing shutdown restrictions beginning on Thursday, in a gradual reopening intended to keep the virus spread rate low.