VIRUS TRACKER — Nov. 18: 71 New COVID-19 Cases and 1 Death

The health department is now reporting the latest COVID-19 cases at a 36-hour lag.

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Health officials reported 71 new COVID-19 cases and one death on Wednesday, including 59 on Oahu, two on the Big Island, two on Maui, and eight Hawaii residents diagnosed out of state.

The new cases reported Wednesday reflect laboratory results that were submitted electronically to the Hawaii Department of Health between midnight Sunday and 11:59 p.m. Monday.

DOH Spokeswoman Janice Okubo said Wednesday that the department’s data team recently shifted its verification and processing time from 15 hours to 36 hours. Because of an increase in the number of cases and new data that the state has started compiling and publishing on its data dashboard, the department’s data team needs more time to ensure the data does not include duplicate test results or include other errors, she said.

Civil Beat’s virus tracker is updated when the state releases its daily numbers. The state posts new data daily at noon. The cases in the daily reports reflect laboratory results collected up until midnight two days prior, which means there is a 36-hour lag between when results are submitted to the Department of Health and when the state reports them publicly.

One case on Oahu and one case from outside the state were removed from the counts Wednesday because of updated information, according to health officials.

The COVID-19 case reports are based on test results from laboratories statewide. The numbers include lab results from both residents and tourists. Since March, 95% of cases diagnosed in the islands have been among residents.

There have been 1,420 new cases reported statewide in the last two weeks. Health officials use the number of cases reported in the past 14 days as a rough approximation of the number of active cases, or people who could still be infectious.

More infections have been reported among TheBus and Handi-Van drivers in recent days. Twenty-one cases have been reported to date, three of whom have filed workers’ compensation claims.

The death recorded Wednesday was on the Big Island. Civil Beat calculates at least 240 people have died from the disease in Hawaii including 17 deaths on Hawaii island that have not been recorded yet by the Department of Health due to medical verification lags.

The statewide official death toll is 223. County officials are usually the first to announce local cases and fatalities.

Other states are experiencing record surges in COVID-19 cases, making it harder for people planning to travel to Hawaii to acquire tests that would allow them to bypass Hawaii’s mandatory 14-day quarantine, Hawaii News Now reported.

For more information, check this Hawaii Department of Health COVID-19 site or this state site, and the Hawaii Data Collaborative COVID-19 Tracking site. The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency also provides this comprehensive dashboard.

Cases, Deaths And COVID-19 Testing In Hawaii

16,734
COVID-19 Cases
240
Deaths
602,834
Tests performed

Honolulu’s 7-Day Averages

Tier 2
Current Tier*
73
Daily Case Count
2.6%
Test Positivity
Source: The City and County of Honolulu
* The current case numbers and test positivity rate may not correlate with the metrics set for a specific tier as the county must spend at least four consecutive weeks in a tier and meet the metrics for the next tier before advancing, according to the reopening plan. More information of the City and County of Honolulu’s reopening strategy as well as details of the restrictions of Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 and Tier 4 can be found at oneoahu.org

Hawaii COVID-19 Cases By County

Daily New COVID-19 Cases

Number Of Confirmed COVID-19 Cases In U.S.

COVID-19 Cases Worldwide

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