No additional COVID-19-related deaths were reported Tuesday on the Big Island, and no new cases of the virus were reported in Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the number of residents and employees there who have tested positive remained at 28 and 10, respectively.
Three residents with underlying health issues died in recent days after being diagnosed with the coronavirus.
One resident remains hospitalized at Hilo Medical Center, according to information provided by the hospital. Two were released and returned to the veterans home, where 24 residents are currently being cared for in a COVID-19 designated area.
Retesting of residents and staff continued Tuesday afternoon.
An HMC spokeswoman said those who tested positive are not being retested.
Eleven COVID-positive patients are currently hospitalized at HMC, including two in the hospital’s intensive care unit and nine in its COVID-19 unit.
A total of 181 new cases were reported statewide Tuesday, including 19 on Hawaii Island.
Tuesday marked the eighth consecutive day the island had double-digit new cases, with 174 cases identified since Aug. 25.
Hawaii County’s case count has increased 152% since Aug. 18, when there were 152 cases and no deaths, compared to Tuesday’s total of 383 cases and three deaths.
The county is averaging a 3.5% positivity rate among people tested, while the statewide rate is about 5.3%, according to the state’s COVID-19 Joint Information Center.
As of Tuesday, 33,699 people had been tested in Hawaii County.
The state Department of Health previously confirmed an ongoing investigation at Liberty Dialysis in Hilo, and the Tribune-Herald has received multiple reports that at least five patients tested positive for the virus.
DOH spokeswoman Janice Okubo confirmed there was an employee who was an “initial case involving a cluster” at a Hilo dialysis center, and said the department has been working with the facility to protect patients and staff.
Officials from parent company Fresenius Kidney Care said Tuesday that patients in contact with a staff member who originally tested positive in August were tested and returned negative results 10 days after the exposure.
The staff member who tested positive after working one shift had used full personal protective equipment and has not returned to work since.
“Liberty Dialysis has been aggressively responding to the outbreak of COVID-19 cases impacting the entire Hilo area,” said Brad Puffer, spokesman for Liberty Dialysis and Fresenius Kidney Care, in an emailed statement. “This includes implementing testing of patients and staff at our center to help identify cases and to move any positive individuals to separated facilities or shifts for treatment.
“Patients come to Liberty Dialysis from many parts of East Hawaii including the veterans home and other nursing facilities,” he continued. “As we all respond to this community wide challenge, we believe our strict infection control procedures have been critically important, including use of PPE by all staff and mandated mask use for all patients, restriction of visitors in our centers and extensive cleaning on a regular basis.”
Puffer said the company is not discussing specific cases but continues to work with the DOH to prevent spread within the dialysis center itself.
West Hawaii Today Editor Chelsea Jensen contributed to this story.
Email Stephanie Salmons at ssalmons@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
