LIHU‘E — Friday, the state Department of Health Kaua‘i District Health Office reported nine new cases of COVID-19 on Kaua‘i.
All of these cases are residents, including one child and eight adults.
Four of the cases are related to travel — three mainland and one interisland. The remaining five cases are considered community-acquired. Two of the community-acquired infections are close contacts of a previously announced case or are tied to an active cluster. The remaining three cases have no known source of infection.
These cases bring the number of active cases to 80, with five hospitalized.
To date, the county had recorded 3,392 cumulative cases.
Today, Ho‘ola Lahui Hawai‘i is holding mobile vaccine clinics at their Kapa‘a and Waimea medical clinics from 9 to 11 a.m. Walk-ins are accepted and no appointments are needed.
The seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases in Honolulu has surged nearly fivefold in the past two weeks, according to the DOH.
Honolulu reported a seven-day average of 251 cases on Friday, compared to 53 cases on Dec. 2. The percentage of COVID-19 tests returning positive results jumped to 5.4%. It was below 2% two weeks earlier.
It’s not clear what is driving the increase.
The number of cases on O‘ahu had been fairly steady since early October. During the summer, the island had a surge driven by the delta variant.
Last week, the DOH reported it had detected 12 cases of the omicron variant on O‘ahu. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the omicron variant will likely spread more easily than the original COVID-19 virus. It says it’s unknown how easily it spreads compared to the delta variant.
A free pediatric vaccine for ages 5 to 11 is available seven days a week at Walmart and Longs Drugs at Kukui Grove Center in Lihu‘e. Walmart accepts walk-ins, and appointments are recommended at Longs at cvs.com/vaccine. There will also be a keiki walk-in at the Kaua‘i Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waimea today from 2 to 5 p.m.
All adults are now eligible for booster doses of vaccines.
A list of vaccination locations and hours can be found at kauai.gov/vaccine.
A list of free testing locations and hours can be found at kauai.gov/COVIDtest.
A free mobile testing van is available for walk-ins from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Hanalei Neighborhood Center today and the Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste Sports Complex in Kapa‘a on Sunday.
A list of testing options can be found at kauai.gov/covidtest.
Source: The Garden Island
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