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The average daily number of COVID-19 cases in Hawaii shows no signs of increasing the week before Christmas.
The Hawaii Department of Health announced on Wednesday that the seven-day average of new cases had fallen to 158, from 180 reported on Dec. 21. 14. Average is based on December data. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., about a week before Christmas.
The state’s average positivity rate also fell to 5.9% from 6.4% the previous week.
The DOH is urging Hawaii residents to celebrate the holidays by taking simple safety precautions to help reduce the spread of COVID and other respiratory illnesses.
In addition to urging people to get their updated bivalent boosters, the department is encouraging people to stay home if they are sick and to wear masks indoors, when traveling and around people. vulnerable. If you come across kupuna and others at high risk for serious illness, the department recommends taking a home test first.
Also encourage people from services to gather outdoors and limit the size of gatherings. If you gather indoors, open windows and use fans to improve ventilation.
Last but not least, the DOH continues to encourage frequent hand washing or sanitizing.
“In recent years, COVID-19 illness has increased during the holidays after people came together to celebrate,” state health director Dr. Elizabeth “Libby” Char said in a statement. Press. “We encourage celebrations, but urge people to take action to protect each other, especially those at high risk, including kupuna, people with underlying health conditions and people whose system immune system is weakened.
To date, 78.3% of Hawaii’s population has completed the first round of COVID-19 vaccinations, according to the Department of Health. A total of 248,296 residents, or 22.3% of the state’s eligible population, received the new bivalent booster.
Residents 5 years of age and older are eligible for updated bivalent boosters, free from pharmacies, health centers and hospitals, if at least two months have passed since the last dose of the primary series or from the previous reminder.
Recently, bivalent boosters have also become available for keiki from age
6 months.
The Moderna bivalent booster is available for children aged 6 months to 5 years if two months have passed since the end of a primary series with the Moderna COVID-19 monovalent vaccines.
Pfizer’s bivalent booster is available for children 6 months to 4 years of age who have not yet started their primary three-dose series of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine or who have not yet received their third dose.
However, those who have already completed their three-dose series of the original Pfizer monovalent vaccine are not eligible for a bivalent booster dose at this time, the Food and Drug Administration said.
Individuals recently infected with COVID-19 may consider delaying the bivalent booster for three months from the onset of symptoms or a positive test.
Omicron’s BA.5 subvariant is no longer the dominant variant in Hawaii, having been pushed aside by the more immuno-evasive BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 lines.
The latest DOH variant report, released on Tuesday, found that BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 now account for about 54%, while BA.5 only accounts for 23% of the variants circulating in Hawaii, based on the sequencing of the DOH. genome during the two weeks. period ending December 3.
Another immuno-evasive variant, XBB and its lineages, make up 6% of the variants circulating in the state.
The World Health Organization, meanwhile, has expressed concern about rising reports of severe COVID-19 cases in China after the end of its “zero COVID” policy.
WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday that since peaking in late January, the number of COVID deaths reported each week around the world has fallen by almost 90%.
“Certainly, we are in a much better situation with the COVID-19 pandemic than a year ago when we were in the early stages of the Omicron wave, with rapidly increasing cases and deaths,” he said. he said at a press briefing. “However, there are still too many uncertainties and gaps for us to say that the pandemic is over.”
These gaps include surveillance, testing, sequencing, vaccinations, treatment, and understanding the onset of the pandemic.
The DOH also reported 10 additional deaths on Wednesday, bringing the state’s COVID death toll to 1,758.
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