Active COVID-19 case counts in the state will start to decline in the coming days, due to the latest guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last week, the CDC issued new isolation and quarantine guidelines for those who are COVID positive.
A person may leave quarantine after five days — with strict mask use for another five.
That’s a change from its previous guidance of a 10-day quarantine.
The state health department has revised its policies to match the new guidelines. They went into effect on Monday, Jan. 3.
Kauaʻi Deputy District Health Officer Lauren Guest said active case counts will drop under the new guidance.
"The State of Hawaiʻi is officially moving to the five-day isolation guidelines. As such, we will be assessing all of our current cases who are past day five, and release all of those who are asymptomatic," she said.
"This will mean that our active case number will drop significantly tomorrow. As a reminder, only cases whose symptoms have resolved are eligible to be released on day five. Additionally, they are required to continue to wear their mask when around others for the full 10-day isolation period," Guest added.
The state reported 1,592 new COVID-19 cases and a test positivity rate of 17.1% on Tuesday. Just over 74% of Hawaiʻi residents are fully vaccinated.
Over the last 14 days, the state has reported 28,147 new COVID cases.
More information on vaccine and testing sites can be found at hawaiicovid19.com.
