As of Monday, 91 people in Hawaii are now self-monitoring for COVID-19, five of whom are on Hawaii Island.
In a daily update provided by the state Department of Health, many of those individuals were identified through screening by federal officials at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu.
A Hilo Medical Center spokeswoman could neither confirm nor deny that any of the individuals now self-monitoring on the Big Island had come into the hospital, and said the DOH is the source of that information.
In answers to frequently asked questions, the DOH said it does not release names or other information that could be used to identify an infected individual or who is under quarantine.
The department, however, will inform the public if a case is confirmed, but only the county where the individual is located will be identified.
Two individuals considered under investigation have tested negative.
A person under investigation means the individuals meets the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for investigation and testing.
There currently are no confirmed cases of the virus in Hawaii.
Common coronaviruses in humans usually cause mild to moderate upper-respiratory tract illnesses, like the common cold, according to the CDC.
Symptoms of the newly identified virus include mild to severe respiratory illness with fever, cough and difficulty breathing.
Concerns about the coronavirus continue to grow as more cases are reported outside of China, where the virus was first reported late last year. Nearly 91,000 cases have been confirmed globally, including 102 in the U.S., and more than 3,100 deaths have been reported.
