LIHU‘E — The state Department of Health Kaua‘i District Health Office reported two new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday.
LIHU‘E — The state Department of Health Kaua‘i District Health Office reported two new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday.
Both cases are adult residents. One case is travel-related, and the other is community-acquired. All active cases are in isolation, close contacts are being identified, directed to quarantine and offered testing.
Tuesday’s cases bring the number of on-island active cases to 16, with 133 cumulative cases. Kaua‘i’s cumulative case count includes 116 confirmed locally, one probable, and 16 positive cases diagnosed elsewhere, as they received their pre-travel positive test results after arriving on island.
Governor David Ige on Friday approved Mayor Derek Kawakami’s emergency rule 23, which seeks a temporary moratorium of the Safe Travels program and return to a mandatory 14-day quarantine. The rule went into effect at 12:01 a.m. today, and applies to all incoming travelers, including mainland, inter-island residents and visitors.
The county’s modified quarantine program remains in place for critical infrastructure workers, essential medical travel or other special circumstances. To apply for a modified quarantine, visit kauai.gov/COVID-19 and click on the “modified quarantine request” button at the top of the page.
For more information on the county’s COVID-19 response, visit kauai.gov/COVID-19.
For more information on the state’s COVID-19 cases or the state’s Safe Travels program, visit hawaiicovid19.com.
The CDC has now determined that a 13 day quarantine is excessive and that 7-10 days is adequate.
Without any explanation on what event, action or Covid19 results will cause these changes to be modified is unrealistic. The unknown will financially destroy the economy and local residents. We have visited Kauai over 25 years and having made many friends that are local residents.
This action puts EVERYONE in limbo and only affects people that are NON-government employees. They still get their paychecks and benefits while everyone in the private sector are financially destroyed.
The covid19 numbers are currently less than in October. AND, now we can not go to a vrbo home directly from airport but have to go to hotel and stay indoors (with an ankle bracelet!). I am more than willing to spend 14 days in quarantine at the vrbo home with fresh air and open windows and prepare all meals. Same as I have been doing on the mainland since March after returning from Kauai. Wearing a mask every day when in public as required by my state.
Our routine as a visitor is always….get rental car, shop for groceries, go to vrbo home and hang out at the beach each day.
Guess Kauai was more welcoming when there was no Starbucks, Costco, Borders, etc…………………… we feel like most residents in Kauai…..why does the LOCAL government continue to approve huge developments in Poipu and the beach area is very small. This is turning the Garden Island into a crowded tourist destination with few amenities and outdated infrastructure.
Maybe the answer is anyone in public without mask gets a $150 fine. Focus on the few in the community spreading the virus.
Robert S.
Oh no ! Two more cases ! That’s a 1.7 new case average per day over the last seven days ! Shut down the airports ! Reinstate the curfew ! Restrict all civil liberties ! We’re all going to die! (Sarcasm intended)
You obviously dont understand how numbers work or the big picture on small island.
And more concerning..you dont care.
I agree. The 14 day qurantine we have been so accustom to will become a 10 day qurantine. The vaccines are coming but we still have a very rough patch to get through.
Just remember that our having relatively no cases is what winning looks like. We are in this situation because hard choices have been made by Mayor K and we have, for the most part, masked up and been vigilant.
We should use science based guidelines and approach to Governor to shorten the quarantine period.
The CDC guidelines say that the quarantine can end after 7 days if a community has adequate testing ( recommending the more accurate PCR test given in the last two days of quarantine). Or 10 days if no testing is done and only a monitoring of symptoms is used.
Lets get this RIGHT, and propose to the Governor using the CDC’s recommendations.
Keep in mind the 7 day quarantine option requires that we are able to turn around testing in less than 2 days. If we cant do that, we need to use the 10 day period.
Resist the temptation to do this other than fully correct. We can shorten our quarantine and open up the island faster. Lets not compromise and end up in a third round of shutdowns!
How many of the new Covid cases are from all the many new testing taking place all over the island? If a person has had Covid and recovered, will they test positive because of anti bodies?
Lets be clear. The CDC did not say 14 days was “excessive”.
These shorter quarantine options do not replace initial CDC guidance. “CDC continues to recommend quarantining for 14 days as the best way to reduce risk for spreading COVID-19,” said Henry Walke, MD, MPH, the CDC’s COVID-19 incident manager, during a media briefing on Wednesday.
In terms of “Acceptable Risk” the CDC states:
Modeling by the CDC and academic and public health partners led to the new quarantine recommendations, said John Brooks, MD, chief medical officer for the CDC’s COVID-19 response. Multiple studies “point in the same direction, which is that we can safely reduce the length of quarantine but accept there is a small residual risk that a person who is leaving quarantine early could transmit to someone else.”
The residual risk is approximately 1%, with an upper limit of 10%, when people quarantine for 10 days. A 7-day quarantine carries a residual risk of about 5% and an upper limit of 12%.
I would rather have the Centers for Disease Control give me guidance of acceptable risk than Governor Ige, Lt Gov Green or the Chamber of Commerce. This is a health decision!