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“Hawaii reports 108 new coronavirus infections, bringing total to 21,209 - Honolulu Star-Advertiser” plus 2 more

“Hawaii reports 108 new coronavirus infections, bringing total to 21,209 - Honolulu Star-Advertiser” plus 2 more


Hawaii reports 108 new coronavirus infections, bringing total to 21,209 - Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Posted: 30 Dec 2020 02:20 PM PST

Hawaii health officials today reported 108 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 21,209 cases.

The state Department of Health reported no new deaths for the seven straight day, leaving the statewide death toll at 285. However, Hawaii County officials said Sunday that one coronavirus-related death on the Big Island was reported over the past week.

The state's official coronavirus-related death toll remains at 285, with the Department of Health counting 221 fatalities on Oahu, 44 on Hawaii island, 17 on Maui, one on Kauai, and two Hawaii residents who were died on the mainland.

The U.S. coronavirus death toll rose above 340,000 today as coronavirus cases across the nation topped 19.6 million.

Today's new statewide infection cases reported by the Health Department include 86 on Oahu, 17 on Maui, two on the Big Island, one on Kauai, and two state residents diagnosed outside of Hawaii, officials said. As a result of updated information, two Oahu cases were removed from the counts.

The statistics released today reflect the new infection cases reported to the department on Monday.

RELATED: Mayor Kirk Caldwell says coronavirus response was too slow

Health officials counted 3,420 COVID-19 new test results in today's tally, for a 3.1% statewide positivity rate.

The total number of coronavirus cases by island since the start of the outbreak are 17,773 on Oahu, 1,873 in Hawaii County, 932 on Maui, 145 on Kauai, 106 on Lanai and 22 on Molokai. There are also 358 Hawaii residents diagnosed outside of the state.

Hawaii health officials said that of the state's total infection count, 1,578 cases were considered to be active. Health officials say they consider infections reported in the past 14 days to be a "proxy number for active cases." The number of active cases in the state rose by one today.

By island, Oahu has 1,236 active cases, Maui has 206, the Big Island has 126, and Kauai has 10, according to the latest tally. Molokai and Lanai no longer have active COVID cases.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 1,458 have required hospitalizations, with six new hospitalizations reported today by state health officials.

Three hospitalizations in the statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 1,455 hospitalizations within the state, 1,281 have been on Oahu, 88 on the Big Island, 73 on Maui, seven on Kauai, five on Lanai and one on Molokai.

According to the latest information from the department's Hawaii COVID-19 data dashboard, a total of 97 patients with the virus were in Hawaii hospitals as of Wednesday, with 16 in intensive care units and 18 on ventilators.

Oahu moved to the less-restrictive Tier 2 of Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell's four-tier economic recovery plan on Oct. 22. The mayor's office says that to gauge whether Honolulu will move to a different tier, the city takes a "weekly assessment" of two key COVID-19 numbers each Wednesday. To move to Tier 3 from Tier 2, the 7-day average of new cases must be below 50 on two consecutive Wednesdays. Also, the 7-day average positivity rate must be below 2.5% on those two Wednesdays.

Today's seven-day average case count for Oahu is 72 and the positivity rate is 3.2%, according to Caldwell.

Covid 19? There's an App for That! - yurview.com

Posted: 30 Dec 2020 08:47 AM PST

Sponsored By: The Virginia Department of Health

Becoming the healthiest state in the nation, is the vision of the Virginia Department of Health.

To accomplish this, the department incorporates expert information along with the latest technology.

We had a few moments with them and were able to take a deeper dive into one very important initiative they are promoting in the fight against Covid-19.

Where is the Virginia Department of Health located?

Our main office is in Richmond, VA, but the VDH has health departments throughout the state.

How is the Virginia Department of Health working to keep Virginians healthy?

The Mission of the Virginia Department of Health is to protect the health and promote the well-being of all people in Virginia.

COVIDWISE specifically is the nation's first exposure notifications app for COVID-19.

When was COVIDWISE created?

The COVIDWISE app was launched August 5th.

How does the COVIDWISE app work?

The COVIDWISE app was developed in partnership with Google and Apple and uses Bluetooth Low Energy technology to quickly notify users who have likely been exposed so they can reduce the risk of infection.

Where does COVIDWISE work?

The COVIDWISE app currently only works in Virginia, but steps are being taken to add it to the national key server which would allow the various state apps to work with each other.

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How do I use the app?

Add Your Phone to the COVID Fight to Help Virginia Stop COVID-19.

By simply downloading an app you could help protect yourself and your community and help prevent future infections.

After you download COVIDWISE on your iPhone or Android, follow the app instructions to turn on your Exposure Notifications.

This allows you to be notified if you've likely been exposed. 

Your phone and the phones around you will work in the background, without draining your battery or data, to exchange these privacy-preserving anonymous tokens via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology.

This is a passive process that begins once you opt-in and functions without the app open.

On a daily basis, your phone downloads a list of all the anonymous tokens associated with positive COVID-19 cases and checks them against the list of anonymous tokens it has encountered in the last 14 days.

 If there's a match, the app will notify you with further instructions from your public health authority on how to keep you and the people around you safe.

What is the goal of the Virginia Department of Health and the COVIDWISE app?

The more Virginians who download the app, the more effective it will be in helping to stop the spread of COVID-19.

For more information:

COVIDWISE.ORG

Facebook: VDHgov

Twitter: @VDHgov

And if you would like to see someone featured on the show, please send a message to Share@Living757.com and you may just see them here soon!

To View this week's entire episode, click here.

COVID-19 exposure notification app now available to Hawaii County residents - West Hawaii Today

Posted: 30 Dec 2020 02:05 AM PST

AlohaSafe Alert, the state of Hawaii's official COVID-19 exposure notification app, is now available to Hawaii County residents and is expected to launch statewide next week.

Developed in partnership with the state Department of Health, the aio Foundation and the Hawaii Executive Collaborative, the free app aims to slow the spread of COVID-19 by using smartphones to notify users of their exposure to someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19.

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Brandon Kurisu, president of aio Digital, said Tuesday afternoon during a virtual meeting with members of the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce that the company has been working on the initiative for a while. It will launch statewide Jan. 6.

According to alohasafealert.org, when the app senses another app in use nearby, the devices will exchange a secure, random, anonymous code. An individual's location, name or other identifiable information is never included.

Users who test positive for COVID-19 will receive a text message on their phone that will allow them to alert other users they were exposed.

A notification will only be triggered if a minimum exposure threshold is met: Devices must have been a distance of 6 feet or less for at least 15 cumulative minutes in the past 14 days.

"For me, the big takeaway is this is one other way that we can start protecting our island against the coronavirus and keep all of us safe," said Mayor Mitch Roth during the meeting. "They're looking at doing a statewide release next week, but we wanted to get a jump start and start getting people signed up and logged in. … To me, it was kind of a no-brainer. It's just another way we can keep our island safe and healthy. Let's do what we can."

Roth acknowledged that not everyone will use that app, but said it's an additional tool that will speed up the contact notification process.

Combined with other preventative measures, if just 15% of the community uses the app, the number of infections will decline by 8% and the number of deaths will be reduced by 6%, according to Roth.

Studies show that for every two people who opt to use the app, one infection can be avoided.

According to the county, there currently are 17 other states and 19 other countries using this technology to track exposure to the coronavirus.

The AlohaSafe app was first released on Lanai in November as part of a pilot program and launched for use in Maui County earlier this month.

Kurisu said he's been "pleasantly surprised" by the response. There have been about 18,000 downloads so far, he said, "but we really haven't done a big push yet."

Residents are still expected to adhere to social distancing and other safety measures mandated by the state and county to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

App usage is voluntary. The app is available for free on Apple and Android devices.

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For more information, visit alohasafealert.org.

Email Stephanie Salmons at ssalmons@hawaiitribune-herald.com.

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