graphic by BIVN

(BIVN) – There were 188 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the State of Hawaiʻi on Thursday. Three (3) new COVID-related deaths were also counted statewide.

The Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense said there were fourteen (14) new cases identified today on Hawaiʻi island.

The Hawaiʻi Department of Health says there have been 125 cases of COVID-19 reported on the Big Island in the past 14 days.

On the health department’s zip code area map showing reported COVID-19 cases with onset dates in the past 14 days, there are only two areas with totals of over 10 cases:

• 96720 (Hilo) – 26 cases
• 96740 (Kona) – 27 cases

From the Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense:

The Hawaii Department of Health reports fourteen (14) new cases of Coronavirus on Hawaii Island with three (3) persons hospitalized. A total of fifty one (51) deaths have been reported for Hawaii Island.

Do know that the number of coronavirus cases outside Hawaii are very high and travelers and returning residents must follow the emergency laws put into place to protect yourself and our community. We need your help to follow the preventive policies of face coverings, distancing, and limiting gatherings of no more than ten people. We must practice the preventive measures especially during New Year’s celebrations to protect our family, friends, and community. Please accept this kuleana to follow the preventive measures so we might continue in the New Year as the safest place in the Country.

Mahalo for your kokua in following the preventive measures that have seen us through 2020.

The State Department of Health reported on Thursday that new COVID-19 strains that may be significantly more contagious have not yet been detected in Hawaiʻi. From the DOH:

The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) continues to proactively test COVID-19 specimens looking for new strains that may be significantly more contagious or differ in other ways from earlier strains. Recent variants first discovered in the United Kingdom and South Africa are spreading more easily and quickly than other variants and have already spread to other countries. The B1.1.7 variant, first detected in the U.K., has already reached the U.S. mainland and Canada.

The Hawai‘i State Laboratories Division (SLD) began its molecular surveillance in June and to date has performed genome sequencing on nearly 700 samples of viral RNA. Neither B1.1.7 nor B.1.351, the variant discovered in South Africa, has been found in Hawai‘i, but that does not mean they are not here or will not arrive in the future.

“There is no evidence these variants cause more severe illness or increase the risk of death, but research shows they spread much faster than the COVID-19 already found in Hawai‘i,” said Dr. Libby Char, director of the Hawai‘i Department of Health. “These new strains remind us how important it is to avoid large gatherings, wear masks, and practice physical distancing as we usher in the New Year.”

The DOH is collaborating with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to detect new variants of COVID-19 and contain their spread. The CDC has personnel in Hawai‘i to support investigation of viral variants should they be found.

“We are monitoring the situation closely,” said Dr. Edward Desmond, Director of the State Laboratories Division. “So far there is nothing to suggest that COVID-19 vaccines are ineffective against the new variants, but we still have a lot to learn about them.”

Dr. Desmond and Dr. Janet Berreman, District Public Health Officer for Kaua‘i, will be available at 2 p.m. today via Zoom to answer questions about the COVID-19 variants and the work being done in Hawai‘i to guard against variants. Reporters interested in participating should contact Brooks Baehr at brooks.baehr@doh.hawaii.gov.