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Big Island is experiencing a post-holiday surge of COVID-19, driven largely by Omicron

FILE - James Robson, a biomedical engineering graduate student, holds a swab and specimen vial in the new COVID-19, on-campus testing lab, Thursday, July 23, 2020, at Boston University in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
Charles Krupa/AP
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AP
FILE - James Robson, a biomedical engineering graduate student, holds a swab and specimen vial in the new COVID-19, on-campus testing lab, Thursday, July 23, 2020, at Boston University in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

The Big Island is experiencing a post-holiday surge in COVID-19 cases driven largely by the highly contagious, yet less severe, Omicron variant.

Hawaiʻi County Mayor Mitch Roth is back at work this week after completing his mandatory isolation since testing positive for COVID-19 over the holidays.

Like many who have contracted the coronavirus, Roth said the biggest challenge was not so much the COVID-19 symptoms, which he described as very mild, but the mandatory isolation — which in his case lasted 10 days.

"The most difficult thing for me was having to stay not only indoors in my home, but my wife is a pretty good prison guard or warden – she kept me locked away in my bedroom and away from everybody else in the house," Roth said.

The post-holiday surge in cases on the Big Island took many by surprise including Hilo teacher Noel Lyman who planned to wed her fiancé Jeremiah Kailiuli on New Year’s Eve.

But Kailiuli tested positive for COVID-19 on Christmas and Lyman joined him four days later.

"At that point, I kind of started giving up. I was like I want my family to be there. It’s going to be an important day. I don’t even know if we can do this. I don’t know if we can pull this off. COVID pretty much took all of my plans out of the book," Lyman said.

But she was determined.

So while in isolation, the couple exchanged vows and live-streamed the ceremony for friends and family to witness. The newlyweds were both partially vaccinated and said COVID-19 felt a lot like the flu.

Mayor Roth who was fully vaccinated and received his booster shot before contracting the virus said the county is seeing less severe symptoms for the vaccinated and boosted population.

"So it really does help to be vaccinated, to get boosted. If you haven't done either of those, at least get tested often," he said.

COVID-19 cases on Hawaiʻi Island took a slight dip Tuesday after four consecutive days of record-breaking numbers and more than 900 cases seen since the New Year.

Roth doesn't anticipate any new immediate changes to COVID-19 restrictions on the island, but he is paying close attention to hospitalizations.

Elena Cabatu, spokesperson for the Hilo Medical Center, sad hospitalizations are relatively low compared to last year’s Delta variant surge.

"The amount of folks coming into our emergency department to be cared, they’re not materializing into hospitalizations," Cabatu said. "However, we are seeing a very full hospital with non-COVID-related issues so even a small percentage of those high cases will add an additional strain to our resources."

The highly transmissible Omicron variant has forced a noticeable amount of the island’s workforce into quarantine from hospitals to airlines, restaurants to county government.

Fortunately, Cabatu said, new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control reduced the isolation period for individuals with COVID-19 from 10 days to five — ensuring any surge in hospitalizations will be met with adequate staffing.

On Wednesday, 156 new cases were reported. The positivity rate for the island was 15.4%.

Find more information on vaccine and testing sites at hawaiicovid19.com.

HPR reporter Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi also spoke to The Conversation on Jan. 11 about the latest COVID-19 news on Hawaiʻi Island.

HPR reporter Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi - Jan. 11, 2022
The Conversation

Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi is a general assignment reporter at Hawaiʻi Public Radio. Her commitment to her Native Hawaiian community and her fluency in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi has led her to build a de facto ʻōiwi beat at the news station. Send your story ideas to her at khiraishi@hawaiipublicradio.org.
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