Other coronavirus-related news for June 19

Here’s a look at additional coronavirus-related news from throughout the state.

‘Pooled testing’ is urged

The chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and Special Committee on COVID-19 sent a letter to Gov. David Ige encouraging the state to consider “pooled testing” of incoming travelers to Hawaii to mitigate the spread of the virus.

Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz of Oahu on Thursday said pooled testing would allow the state to test more travelers using fewer tests and allow for testing of pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic patients who do not have a fever at their time of arrival.

“I am hoping that as we keep the screening and quarantine in place, that the state would also develop alternatives to the quarantine in ensuring the health and safety of our community,” Dela Cruz wrote. “Alternatives may include government authorized travel bubbles, taking tests upon arrival and others that still need to be identified and researched. ‘Pool testing’ may be a consideration.”

Pooled testing was recommended to Dela Cruz by Dr. Darragh O’Carroll, an emergency medicine physician at Kuakini Medical Center on Oahu.

According to O’Carroll, samples from up to 30 people are pooled and tested together in a single tube using sensitive molecular biological detection methods. Only if the pool result is positive do the samples need to be tested individually.

When the infection rate is low and only a few people are infected, pool testing can significantly expand the testing capacity of existing laboratory infrastructure.

Dela Cruz recommended the state Department of Health purchase an additional 3,000-5,000 tests to be administered daily to visitors.

The latest on unemployment

The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations announced Thursday that Hawaii’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for May was 22.6%, compared to the revised rate of 23.8% in April.

Statewide, 490,700 were employed and 143,150 unemployed in May for a total seasonally adjusted labor force of 633,850.

Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 13.3% in May, down from 14.7% in April.

Hawaii County’s unemployment rate (not seasonally adjusted) was 21.1% in May, down from 23.3% in April.

The state has issued $1.577 billion in unemployment benefits since March 1.

“Ninety percent of the valid unemployment insurance claims that have come in since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic have been processed and paid out by the DLIR,” said DLIR Deputy Director Anne Perreira-Eustaquio. “We also have 12,876 clean claims ready for payment of benefits by filing weekly claim certifications.”

A total of 234,398 claims have been filed statewide.
Source: Hawaii Tribune Herald