HONOLULU — The number of emergency room visits and patients hospitalized for COVID-19 have been increasing at an accelerating pace in Hawai‘i.
On Wednesday, the state Department of Health reported that a weekly average of 96 patients with COVID-19 were in hospitals per day compared with 55 reported the previous week. It is the highest number of hospitalizations the state has reported so far this year.
Additionally, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the percentage of COVID-19 patients visiting emergency departments in Hawai‘i has been rising since April — with a steep increase in May that’s closing in on the peak about a year ago.
On Wednesday, DOH reported an average positivity rate of 14.7 percent, up from 10.5 percent the previous week. On May 1 average positivity was at 4.3 percent.
All of these metrics indicate COVID-19 is circulating in Hawai‘i’s communities, according to Tim Brown, an infectious disease specialist at the East-West Center in Manoa.
He noted that the average positivity for Honolulu County increased Wednesday to 17.0 percent from 12.8 percent the previous week, a 32 percent jump. He also said concentration levels of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in state wastewater sites are now above the peak reached in January’s spike.
“One thing that is increasingly clear is that the KP.2 and KP.3 variants driving this surge are very immune evasive,” wrote Brown in a weekly summary. “Southern Australia, Singapore and New Zealand, where KP.1, KP.2 and KP.3 are an increasing proportion of sequenced cases, are seeing similar rapid rises in morbidity and hospitalizations.”
While the severity of infections with the latest “FLiRT” variants appear to be lower, precautions for the vulnerable are urgently needed now, said Brown.
“With so many people getting infected, most of those who are older or more prone to severe COVID complications are going to get exposed if they don’t take precautions,” he said.
“So, please, if you have vulnerable family or friends encourage them to: mask up, especially if going into any crowded locations; get their vaccines up to date — they’re eligible for shots every six months; keep their spaces well-ventilated and if circulation of outside air is low use a HEPA filter in the room.”
Brown also recommended having test kits on hand and testing if symptomatic or exposed, and seeking treatment if positive.
Based on CDC data, most COVID-19-positive patients visiting emergency rooms were kupuna ages 65 and older, with even more who were 75 and older. But younger people were also visiting the ER.
Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, a Washington, D.C.-based epidemiologist and health economist, on Thursday posted on X that “a new large COVID wave” is hitting ERs in Hawai‘i right now but that there has barely been any news coverage on it.
The wave is also hitting the West Coast, especially California, he noted, which is likely due to the new KP.2 variant.
DOH, meanwhile, has said little about the ER data, which reached 4.5 percent on May 31, but last week announced its new respiratory disease activity dashboard, which showed COVID-19 activity was rising.
The dashboard, which reflects data up to May 30, categorized COVID-19 activity at a medium level, while influenza and RSV were at a low level.
DOH said dashboard trends showed that COVID- 19 remains a health concern, and the public should take reasonable precautions to avoid getting sick.
Among them are staying up to date on COVID-19 vaccines; staying home when sick; wearing a mask when indoors with others; and testing when symptomatic because antiviral treatments work best when taken as soon as possible after symptoms begin.
An advisory committee for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, meanwhile, recommended that COVID- 19 vaccines for 2024-25 target a strain within the JN.1 lineage. The “FliRT” variants are descendants of JN.1, which was dominant in the U.S. earlier this year.
The updated vaccines, pending FDA approvals, are expected to become available in the fall.
On Wednesday, DOH also reported three more COVID-19-related deaths, bringing Hawai‘i’s COVID-19 death toll to 2,177.
How to avoid catching COVID-19
The state Health Department recommends the following precautions:
• Stay up to date on COVID-19 vaccines.
• Stay home if you’re feeling sick, and return to usual activities only if fever-free for at least 24 hours without use of fever-reducing medicines, and symptoms are improving.
• Wear a mask when indoors with other people to help protect you and those around you. Wear a mask when you have or are recovering from COVID-19 symptoms to prevent spread of illness to others.
• Take a COVID-19 test if you have symptoms and might need treatment. Antiviral treatments for COVID-19 can prevent hospitalization and death. Treatments work best when taken as soon as possible after symptoms begin.
• Visit health.hawaii.gov/docd for additional strategies.
