Updated: 10/6/2020, 12:19 p.m.
The Hawaii Department of Health today reported three new deaths from COVID-19 and 83 new cases. The latest statewide case count brought the total number of infections to 12,937 since the pandemic began. Deaths total 157.
There have now been 11,613 cases on Oahu, 834 on Hawaii Island, 397 for Maui, and 59 on Kauai County. Those diagnosed out of state stood at 34.
Yesterday's 7-day average positivity rate stood at 2.7% statewide, 3.3% on Oahu, 2.6% on Hawaii Island, 0% on Kauai, and 0.3% for Maui.
The one death yesterday was an Oahu woman older than 80 years old who had underlying medical conditions and had been in a hospital.
While cases statewide have generally been declining, Hawaii Island has seen a spike in recent weeks.
A third community death occurred Sunday, according to the Hilo Medical Center. Two others died in September. Eleven COVID-positive patients are hospitalized.
There were no new deaths reported yesterday among residents at the Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home. Twenty-seven residents died at the nursing facility and 106 residents and staff tested positive.
No new deaths were reported by the Life Care Center in Hilo yesterday. Two residents have died at the nursing facility, the last on Saturday. In its Sunday report, the nursing facility said through Saturday it had 23 residents, 16 active, and 7 staff, 3 active, who have tested positive.
In Kona, the state Department of Health plans to test staff and students today at the University of Nations (YWAM Kona), the Christian-based program said on its website.
It said there are 22 active cases on campus and 8 active cases off campus. All positve individuals are in quarantine, according to the website.
Governor rejects Kauai's request for two tourists tests
Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami says Gov. David Ige has denied the county's request for a second test for visitors when the state reopens to tourists on Oct. 15.
The state is allowing visitors into the islands without quarantine if they test negative for COVID-19 in a pre-flight test.
"Our county administration has been clear that a single pre-arrival testing program alone does not provide the needed level of protection for our Kaua‘i community. However, our proposed second-test program has formally been denied," the mayor said yesterday in his daily video update.
"While this news is disappointing, we have said since day one that we must be flexible and ready to adapt to our ever-changing environment in order to keep our community safe. Today is no different."
While Kawakami and Maui Mayor Michael Victorino have supported more than a single test for tourists, Lt. Gov. Josh Green who is leading the state's pre-test program has opposed the idea.
He has said the state does not have the testing capacity for a second test and he has maintained that the infections here have not come from tourists for the most part.
Green has also said the economy needs to restart so that those who are unemployed because of the pandemic can return to work.
UHERO: State could lose 40,000 people in search of job options
Hawaii will likely experience an overall reduction in population as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decline will come not from deaths due to the virus, but by residents leaving the state in search of better economic opportunity.
The analysis comes from economists at the University of Hawaii, who say the pandemic recession is accelerating the state’s pre-existing trend of population decline.
For three straight years, Hawaii has seen more residents move away than new births and relocations. That pattern is expected to continue for 2020 and the next several years.
Carl Bonham directs the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization.
"What we’re expecting is that the people who are leaving are the people who can't find work. It’s not people in IT, people in the higher-end of job skills. It’s really people who are service-oriented. And the rest of the country recovers faster in those areas than we do," he said.
"When our unemployment stays elevated for an extended period of time, we end up with more out migration than we normally experience."
Bonham says Hawaii could lose as many as 40,000 residents by 2025, but that number could be smaller if other factors like the high cost of housing are addressed.
Hawaii went from having one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country at the beginning of the year to now one of the highest.
--HPR's Ryan Finnerty
Restaurants ask for reprieve from coming city plastics ban
Hawaii restaurants want the city to extend a deadline to comply with a ban on certain single-use utensils, food containers and plastic bags.
Bill 40 was adopted late last year before the full economic impact of the pandemic became clear.
Jason Higa, head of Zippy's Restaurants, spoke at a Chamber of Commerce Hawaii webinar yesterday.
He pointed to a list of 50 local restaurants that have closed because of COVID-19.
"You have Like Like Drive Inn, Chart House in Waikiki, Dillingham Saimin -- businesses that have been with us for decades that no longer exists. And you have businesses across all islands Da Kitchen on Maui, one of the staples, no longer in operation," he said.
"And on that list includes Zippy's Pearlridge and our Pomaikai Ballrooms, which also closed permanently. And what I would say is that that list of 50 Hawaii restaurants is understated. There are many restaurants that have closed that are permanently closed, that have just not yet announced that they will never reopen."
The plastics ban takes effect starting in January. Higa suggested it will add to the cost for restaurants, which are already paying for sanitizers, thermometers and training since the pandemic.
He asked for a three-month extension of the deadline while the industry seeks an exemption from the requirements.
Environmentalists say the ban is needed to keep plastic out of island waters and to combat climate change.
--HPR's Sandee Oshiro
Afterschool student workshops on architectual design offered
Who designs Hawai'i? That's the question architects want students to wrestle with in a series of free afterschool workshops.
Cathi Ho Schar, director of the Community Design Center, one of the series' sponsors, says the first cohort of about 50 students were a broad mix made possible by the digital format.
"The students got to design pools, and playgrounds, and boats, and their dream houses, and they got to meet the professionals who do these things for a living," she said. "That's something that we wanted to address too through this program, that students have agency, they can have an impact on how they want the world to be."
The free, 40-minute Zoom sessions are aimed at students from 7–11 years old and begin this week.
You can find examples of the work and more information at whodesignshawaii.org.
