Surgeon Gen in Hawaii Promoting Fear
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Surgeon General warns spike will continue as Hawaii COVID-19 cases climb above 300
Gov. David Ige, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell and U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Thursday visited an Oahu site in Kalihi conducting mass COVID-19 testing. Ige warned of a potential spike in new coronavirus cases with the increase in COVID-19 testing.
U.S. Surgeon General Vice Adm. Jerome Adams spoke during a news conference Thursday at Kalakaua District Park in Honolulu on the second day of surge COVID-19 testing.
U.S. Surgeon General Vice Adm. Jerome Adams spoke during a news conference Thursday at Kalakaua District Park in Honolulu on the second day of surge COVID-19 testing.
A man gave himself a COVID-19 swab test at the site.
A man gave himself a COVID-19 swab test at the site.
Coronavirus infections in Hawaii reached their second-highest daily level Thursday as Oahu began complying with a two-week stay-at-home order limiting business and activities on the island.
While state health officials reported 306 new cases, a high positivity rate and a record single-day reporting of four deaths, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams warned that Oahu virus numbers likely will continue to spike.
Adams, speaking at a press conference at Kalakaua District Park along with Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell and Gov. David Ige, said Thursday’s new cases were probably generated a week or two ago and do not reflect the thousands of tests administered Wednesday and Thursday during Oahu’s new two-week surge testing program underwritten by the federal government.
The results of the surge tests, he said, are expected to come back to Hawaii from a lab in California two to three days after they are taken.
“You may continue to see cases and positivity go up over the next week or so,” Adams said. “That doesn’t mean you aren’t doing the right thing. It means we need to continue to do the right things, and in seven, 14 and maybe closer to 21 days, you’ll start to see those numbers come back down again.”
Ige said Hawaii could see positive cases double or even go higher if Oahu reaches its target of an additional 5,000 tests per day under the surge program.
“I just want to prepare people for those numbers. We do expect it. We’re not afraid of it. But we know we’re better off to know where the positives are than to sit and not see them,” Ige said.
Hawaii’s daily new-case count hit triple digits for the first time in late July and remained there this month, with the vast majority of confirmed infections on Oahu. On Aug. 13, the state’s daily new-case count reached a record 355.
On Thursday health officials announced four more virus-related deaths — three women and one man, all from Oahu and all who had been hospitalized with underlying medical conditions.
Two of the women were in their 70s, while the other woman and the man were in their 80s. No other details were provided. The coronavirus death toll in Hawaii now stands at 55.
Thursday’s positivity rate — the percent of positives compared to all tests taken — was 12.35%, Adams said, which puts the state in the red zone (above 10%), a position where too many tests are returning positive.
Adams said Hawaii should be aiming for positivity rates below 5%, which is the green zone. The surge testing, he said, will help the state identify where the disease is on Oahu and ultimately help push the state’s positivity rate in the right direction.
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https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/08/28/hawaii-news/u-s-surgeon-general-warns-spike-will-continue-as-covid-19-cases-climb-above-300/