Hawaii Department of Health officials verified 123 new COVID-19 cases in the islands on Friday, nearly the same number of cases documented Thursday.
Five of the new cases were on Maui, and the remaining cases were found on Oahu, where the disease is most prevalent. On average, more than 80 new COVID-19 cases have been identified daily during the past week. That 7-day moving average has been rising steadily for several days.
On Thursday, Gov. David Ige said at a press conference that the rate of new infections is outpacing the state health department’s ability to contact trace or investigate all patients and their exposed contacts.
Bars will be closed for the next three weeks, and restaurants that serve alcohol won’t be able to do so after 10 p.m., Mayor Kirk Caldwell said.
Since the start of the pandemic, 2,111 people in Hawaii have tested positive for the virus, at least 1,243 of whom have been released from isolation. And as of Wednesday, 61 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 related complications.
The COVID-19 death toll remains at 26.
In the past week, 3.8% of people tested for COVID-19 had positive results, according to DOH. The proportion of tests that come back positive has been on the rise this week, up by several percentage points.
This story will be updated. For more information, check the Hawaii Department of Health COVID-19 site and the Hawaii Data Collaborative COVID-19 Tracking site.
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