Ige Warns New Restrictions May Be Needed As COVID Cases Spike
As Hawaii reported a record number of COVID-19 cases, Gov. David Ige called it an alarming reminder that the pandemic is not over and warned the state may need to consider reimposing restrictions if hospitals become overwhelmed.
On Friday, the state announced its highest daily number of infections 622 since the pandemic began last year. Officials stressed that number included a backlog of cases due to lab reporting delays earlier this week.
However, even with the previous undercounts, Hawaii had an average daily case count of more than 300 over the last three days and a seven-day positivity rate of 5.1%, Department of Health director Dr. Libby Char said in a joint press conference with Ige.
The trend is clearly increasing versus what it was a week ago, or two weeks ago, and thats really what were most concerned about, she said, adding that 25% of the recent cases were children.
Read more: https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/07/ige-warns-new-restrictions-may-be-needed-as-covid-cases-spike/