Hawaiʻi’s COVID positivity rate has more than doubled since the beginning of March. The state Department of Health reported a 9% positivity rate last week.
"Because of the home tests, the number of recorded PCR tests that the state has the data for, and is made public, has dropped significantly. So when you look at case numbers, those are now only a fraction of the actual infections that are going on," said Lee Altenberg, a theoretical population biologist at the University of Hawaiʻi.
His work involves trying to understand the nature of population dynamics and how a population processes.
"Most people are acting as though it's 2019 again, as though COVID has gone, as though there's no risk to them, and that they pose no risk to others. And it's just not true," he told The Conversation.
Altenberg said the common disposable paper masks are about 40% efficient when it comes to stemming transmission, while the N-95 has shown to be 98% efficient.
This interview aired on The Conversation on April 17, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
