COVID-19 test numbers continue decline

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The number of COVID-19 tests conducted at sites in Hilo and Pahoa continue to decline.

Just more than 500 people have been tested at Hilo Medical Center’s drive-through testing site since it opened nearly a month ago: 162 people from March 17-20, 133 people from March 23-37, 89 people from March 30-April 3, 72 people from April 6-9 and 45 so far this week.

Meanwhile, 33 people have been tested at a screening and testing site at Puna Community Medical Center in Pahoa, including 20 the week of March 23-27, five the week of March 30-April 3 and eight the week of April 6-11. No tests have been performed at the site this week.

Numbers trended up in the first couple of weeks but have trended down in the past week and a half, said East Hawaii Regional Chief Information Officer Kris Wilson.

Just less than 200 tests have been completed in the hospital itself, Wilson said.

Only one of those tests, in a travel-related case reported last month, was positive and Wilson said no positive cases have been reported since at the hospital.