The Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Dashboard for Monday, October 19, at 5:24 a.m.:

Worldwide cases: 40,155,883    Worldwide deaths:  1,115,079

U.S. cases: 8,160,132   U.S. deaths:  219,765

According to the Dashboard, the reported worldwide case report increased by 380,052 in the last 24 hours.  Deaths worldwide increased by 3,855.

According to the Johns Hopkins Dashboard, the United States has added 36,859 cases in the last 24 hours.  In that time,  the number of reported deaths from  COVID-19 increased by 299.

Several states are seeing high positivity rates in recent days.  Utah is seeing a positivity rate of around 15%, and has turned the football stadium at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City into a COVID-19 drive-through test site.  Iowa has a 20% positivity rate.  Wisconsin has a positivity rate of 20.7%.

According to the State Department of Health, Hawaii has a 7-day average positivity rate of 2.5%.  However, there are places on the Big Island that have a far higher rate:  as of Sunday, people who’ve been tested and reside in Zip Code 96737 (Ocean View) had an 11.8% positivity rate,  96783 (Pepeekeo) yesterday showed an 8% positivity rate, 96781 (Papaikou) had 5.3%, 96740 (Kailua-Kona) had 4.5%, and 96738 (Waikoloa Village, Waikoloa Resort) had 4.5%.

For more about Sunday’s COVID report about the state and  island, click here.  For the State Department of Health detailed maps, click here.

The world is awaiting vaccines for COVID-19, and several drug companies are working through Phase 3 Clinical Trials to produce viable vaccines that are safe and effective.  This Thursday, Oct. 22, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will convene a virtual meeting of its vaccine advisory committee,  several outside experts who are evaluating vaccine candidates for safety and efficacy.