Health

Two New Cases, Vaccine Clinic This Week

Wednesday, March 24th, 2021

By Catherine Cluett Pactol

There were four active COVID-19 cases on Molokai as of Sunday, with the addition of two new cases logged by the Dept. of Health on March 16 and one on March 19, bringing the island’s total cases to 31.

Last week also brought a spike of cases on Maui, which raised concern among officials.

Mayor Michael Victorino expressed frustration on March 18 after receiving the DOH report of 41 new COVID cases in Maui County.

“After reviewing today’s cluster report, it appears the majority of cases are attributed to a new cluster of 24 in a place of worship, eight new cases in an educational setting, additional infections in a cleaning company cluster and two new clusters from bars and nightclubs,” said Victorino.…

Molokai Nears General Public Vaccine Phase

Wednesday, March 17th, 2021

By Catherine Cluett Pactol

Molokai is poised to potentially have its entire eligible population vaccinated, but healthcare providers say they’re waiting for the green light from the Dept. of Health to move forward with vaccinating.

“We’re waiting for confirmation from DOH that we can begin to inoculate everyone on Molokai,” said Janice Kalanihuia, president of Molokai General Hospital (MGH). “There will probably be ad-equate doses here in the next couple of weeks to do that.”

In a March 10 press conference, Josiah Nishita Maui County Deputy Managing Director said vaccine eligibility on Lanai and Molokai will open to residents as young as 16 later this month.…

New Molokai Case, New Variant in HI

Wednesday, March 17th, 2021

By Catherine Cluett Pactol

Molokai logged a new COVID-19 case last week, bring the island’s total to 28 cases since the pandemic began. The Dept. of Health reported the new case last Friday. No further details were publicly available.

A highly transmissible variant was detected in Hawaii last week, causing concern among health officials. The new strain is called B.1.351 and is sometimes referred to as the South African variant. It was found in an Oahu resident with no travel history, according to the DOH.

“This is concerning because B.1.351 has a mutation that makes it more transmissible from one person to another, and a separate mutation that might make it less responsive to the antibodies we form when we have COVID or get vaccinated,” said DOH State Laboratories Division Director Dr.…