Ashley Mizuo

When Hawaii public school classes resume on August 4th, some schools could hold all in-person classes, others may have more online instruction and still others a blend of the two.

Honolulu police officers arrested Micronesians, Samoans and Blacks for violating the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders in marked disproportion to their representation in the general population, a Hawaii Public Radio investigation found.

When Hawaii public schools closed to slow the spread of COVID-19 and moved to distance learning, education advocates warned that students learning English were at high risk for falling behind.

The daily stream of COVID-19 news is unending. In its rigid grip, we can easily miss the Hawaii stories of struggle and quiet heroism that are playing out in our backyard. Here is a compilation of voices we've heard. And we look forward to hearing yours. Call our talkback line at 808-792-8217 or e-mail us at talkback@hawaiipublicradio.org. 

When Hawaii students return to classes in the fall after completing the last months of the school year through distance learning, many may have lost the earlier progress they made for lack of in-person instruction.

The Hawaii State Department of Education is closing about a third of its grab ‘n go food sites for the summer, and many more are taking a break until June 8th.

Hawaii’s public school students have been learning remotely since March due to the COVID-19 outbreak. However, some elementary schools are having an easier time than others because so much depends on a student’s access to the internet. 

The Hawaii State Department of Education will begin offering summer school on June 1. The classes will be provided with a mixed approach of both distance learning and in-person instruction.

Updated: 5/19/2020, 9:06 a.m.

As more people in Hawaii take the COVID-19 antibody test, their results are providing information about how far the virus has spread statewide. While an antibody test cannot determine if a patient is currently sick, it can detect if someone had been infected by showing if someone has the antibodies produced after exposure to coronavirus.

Hawaii received another $50 million of federal funding to expand contact tracing and COVID-19 testing. The state Department of Health hopes that about half will be spent on improvements on the state laboratory.

Hospitals across the state have noticed sharp decreases in the number of patients visiting their emergency rooms since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Hawaii’s public preschoolers have not had in-person classes since mid-March due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Instead, teachers have been using both take-home resource packets and the internet to continue to teach the state’s youngest learners. But there's a key part of early learning that's been lost.

In-person classes at Hawaii’s public schools were canceled due to COVID-19, but some students are not checking in online, and the state hasn’t been able to accurately account for those who are missing.

The city placed Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s plan to purchase $2 million worth of COVID-19 tests on hold after state Health Director Bruce Anderson wrote a letter criticizing the decision.

Antibody tests may be the key to learning how far COVID-19 has spread in Hawaii, and to getting people back to work. However, the state Department of Health doesn’t think the currently available tests are reliable.

Hawaii was poised to hit its peak coronavirus medical need as soon as this past weekend, according to one widely cited coronavirus research institute. Yet the local numbers continue to climb and are likely to exceed 500 this week, begging the question: why doesn't the state have a solid idea of when the surge will come and whether it is prepared?

The state is scrambling to identify enough medical professionals to care for a potential surge of coronavirus patients in Hawaii. However, some doctors are concerned that the outbreak will further worsen the state's long-standing physician shortage.

In less than a week, the number of cases of coronavirus in Hawaii increased from 2 to 16. Are Hawaii’s hospitals fully prepared for the influx of coronavirus patients? Two studies say no.

Hawaii senior care facilities are preparing for a coronavirus outbreak in Hawaii, spurred on by the nursing home deaths in states like Washington.