County reports 4 COVID deaths
Four new COVID-19 deaths were reported this week for Hawaii County.
That’s the highest number since the week of July 26, when there also were four.
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The four new deaths include three men and one woman, according to data from the state Department of Health.
All three men were above the age of 80 and were hospitalized with an underlying condition.
The woman was over the age of 80 and had an underlying condition, but was not hospitalized.
Since the pandemic began in 2020, the death toll for county has reached 259 people.
The statewide death toll has climbed to 1,931 people since the start of the pandemic, with the DOH reporting 11 deaths over the last week, the most since January.
The DOH reports deaths once they are provided the official cause of death, which in some cases can take weeks or even months to determine.
The latest variant report from the DOH released Aug. 3 confirms the omicron subvariant XBB.1.16 remains the dominant strain throughout county, accounting for 31% of all analyzed cases.
A new variant, EG.5, is quickly spreading in the county, accounting for 23% of all analyzed cases and making it the second most dominant variant.
The World Health Organization on July 19 added EG.5 to the list of omicron variants being monitored.
The WHO added there is no evidence at this time that the EG.5 variant is more severe than past variants.
