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As Kauai COVID cases Skyrocket, What Comes Next

If you weren’t aware, the number of active Kauai COVID cases jumped in the past few weeks from 1 on April 18 to 73 on May 3. That is, by far, the largest number of cases ever recorded here. It leaves those of us here and visitors too, very concerned and wondering what that might mean going forward.

Kauai now has the highest positivity rate of all the islands at 3.4 percent. Maui and Oahu are next at 2 percent, and the Big Island is .7 percent.

Yesterday alone, there were an additional 10 cases added on Kauai. The Kauai District Health Office said all of these 10 new cases are residents, not visitors, and the cases “Are considered community-acquired… Today’s cases are all close contacts of previously announced cases or can be traced back to one of the locations announced yesterday… We are seeing increased cases in children (who) are getting infected by other family members.” That per Dr. Janet Berreman, Kauai District Health Officer. Nineteen recent cases are located in Kapaa and Lihue, neither of which is a primary visitor accommodation area.

Two bars plus two gatherings are listed as the source of outbreak clusters.

The county said yesterday that two Kauai bar/restaurants were responsible for an undisclosed increase in new cases .”A number of our recent new COVID cases spent time at Rob’s Good Times Grill in Lihue and/or Troy’s Bar in Lihue between April 16 and 29, and we have evidence that disease transmission took place.” Two additional community sources are a drive-in concert in Lihue last month and a show in Kapaa.

Could Kauai shut down to visitors again?

Anything is, of course, possible, and a COVID bill was defeated in the state legislature that would have required the entire state of Hawaii to adopt the same COVID orders. We do not, however, see a shutdown likely, such as what happened last December.

Kauai Mayor, Derek Kawakami, said last week that he had “Received a lot of questions on when we might need to move down to Tier 3… While moving down a tier is not imminent, we are certainly headed in that direction.”

Kauai is in a different situation than it was last year. It now has a high percentage of vaccinated residents, with the health department reporting that more than 60,000 doses have been administered. That likely translates into 50% or more of those eligible having already been fully vaccinated.

Hawaii visitors, based on anecdotal information, including your comments, have also been widely vaccinated. In addition, all visitors must be tested 3 days before travel to Hawaii to avoid quarantine.

Largely unrelated to mainland travel.

Last week at least four cases were said to be related to interisland travel. We have not heard anything indicating new cases are related to mainland travel. Information from the County, however, is inadequate in that regard.

Your comments are needed.

Regular commentor Ed said this morning, “According to John Hopkins University Professor Dr. Marty Makary, more than 95,000,000 Americans are now fully vaccinated, and another estimated 100,000,000 carry the Covid-19 antibodies due to recovering from the virus, either from symptomatic or asymptomatic illness (it is now believed that asymptomatic cases have been grossly undercounted). That’s getting close to 2/3 of the population of the United States.”

 

81 thoughts on “As Kauai COVID cases Skyrocket, What Comes Next”

  1. Hi,
    I’m so sorry to hear this! I hope Kauai can get this under control, for everyone’s sake.

  2. We are traveling to Kaui on May 29 and we are fully vaccinated. We are so hopeful that the Covid testing will not be needed by then. We are traveling from Ohio to Seattle, and the test must be done 72 hours prior Seattle time. It will be a mess if our flights are delayed. Please let vaccinated vistors forego the Covid testing.

    1. Marsha, we were just in Kauai and now in Maui. Just make a reservation for your covid test in Seattle as they can book up well in advance. Make sure it’s through a trusted partner of the Safe Travels site. Kauai is absolutely beautiful right now and the lack of tourists is actually quite nice if you like getting out and about with those waterfall hikes or lounging around the beach or pools. Good luck

      1. I’ve made three trips to Seattle and no problem with getting an appointment….it was on Hawaiian and they have quite a few options listed on their website if anyone wants a list. I used Worksite labs with no problem, drive through testing and only $90….
        They are exclusive to Hawaiian Air only though. So easy to get an appointment

  3. I am currently vacationing in Kauai and, after speaking to an employee at Duke’s, feel that they are very concerned about keeping Kauai open and keeping their jobs. This person openly offered that the problem is the locals, not the tourists that are here. I can tell you that everyone at the airport and hotels, stores and most tours, etc. are wearing masks. You will be asked to leave or refused entry if you don’t comply. The people I’ve met here are concerned about their health, but I think they also fear for the loss of their jobs.

    It seemed far more relaxed on the Big Island where I was last week.

    I’m pleased that the mayor released that tourists are not the problem. I rarely see anyone at our resort not wearing a mask, except at the pool where they aren’t required. The people here are welcoming and I really don’t want them to suffer through another shutdown.

  4. Why shut down to tourists? From all the reports I just read, 98% of these new cases are community driven. Plus, the few tourists cases have been outside these LOCAL events. Sounds more likely any tourist involvement may have been, a tourist getting COVID from a Local vs the other way around.

    Have all those months of isolation created some form of complacency on the island?

    I’m sure they’ll get under control in a week or so…

    67,000 people on Kauai? Sounds like widespread vaccination could be completely rather rapidly. Might be the best for everyone.

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