David Y. Ige | Hawaii COVID-19 Joint Information Center Daily News Digest, Sept. 23, 2020

Department of Health:
Two Deaths and 168 New Cases Reported Today 
Two (2) O‘ahu residents increase Hawai‘i’s COVID-19 death count to 122 people. A man, 80-years-old or older, passed away while hospitalized. Both he and a woman in the 70 to 79-year old age group had underlying health conditions. She passed away at home. DOH is reporting a triple-digit increase in cases today, with 168 new cases. 

Hawai‘i COVID-19 Counts as of 12:00 noon, Sept. 23, 2020

Island of Diagnosis	New Cases	Reported since 2/28/2020 (including new cases)
O‘ahu	154	10,546++
Hawai‘i	13	672
Maui	0	369
Kaua‘i	0	57
Moloka‘i	1	17++
Lānaʻi	0	0
HI residents diagnosed outside of HI	0	28
Total Cases	168	11,689
Deaths	2	122

Hospitalization count as of 9/22/20 at 5:45 pm: 18-Hawai‘i, 0-Maui, 145-O‘ahu, 0-Kaua‘i 

++ One (1) case from Molokai was not added to this chart on 9-18-20. As the result of updated information, one case from Honolulu was removed from the counts. 

 Laboratory* Testing Data
There were 2,716 additional COVID-19 tests reported via electronic laboratory reporting 

Total Number of Individuals Tested by Clinical and State Laboratories	Positive	Negative
286,785**	11,689	275,072
Total Number of Surge Tests++
56,260	341	55,919

*Electronic Laboratory Reporting **24 test results were inconclusive

++ Tests results from unique individuals. Total numbers may be higher due to repeat tests on single individuals. 

Hawaiicovid19.com 

For more tables, charts and visualizations visit the DOH Disease Outbreak Control Division:https://health.hawaii.gov/coronavirusdisease2019/what-you-should-know/current-situation-in-hawaii 

Department of Transportation:
HDOT Joins the Fight Against Human Trafficking  
Hawai‘i is taking another step in an effort to fight human trafficking. HDOT announced Wednesday it is helping to forge an outreach campaign to combat human trafficking through a “Blue Lightning Initiative (BLI) program. Personnel within the aviation industry will be trained on how to combat human trafficking and spot warning signs. HDOT is doing this in partnership with the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS), and the U.S. Dept. of Transportation (U.S. DOT). Gov. David Ige said, “The State of Hawai‘i and the HDOT Airports Division fully support the anti-human trafficking goals of the BLI. This agreement affirms and recognizes our goal to completely eradicate all forms of human trafficking. We will do everything in our power to work with the federal government in ending these heinous crimes.” 

HDOT Director Jade Butay said, “The practice of human trafficking is a scourge to humanity, and it must end. HDOT is anxious to empower our employees and partners within the aviation industry with the knowledge to recognize and report suspected instances of human trafficking.”

State leaders have also pointed out that COVID-19 has made many vulnerable to human trafficking. HDOT Deputy Director Lynn Araki-Regan said, “With high unemployment and changing conditions around the world impacted by COVID-19, people may find themselves forced or inadvertently lured to the false promises of traffickers. Our message is that human trafficking will not be tolerated. We cannot allow our transportation system to be an enabler in such atrocious acts.”

To report child trafficking, call the State of Hawai‘i Department of Human Services Child Trafficking (Child Welfare Services) Hotline at (808) 832-1999 (O‘ahu) or 1-888-398-1188 (Neighbor Islands). As always, in the event of an immediate emergency, call 911. For more details please see the full news release:https://hidot.hawaii.gov/blog/2020/09/23/hdot-joins-the-fight-against-human-trafficking/

Department of the Attorney General:
Returning Resident Arrested for Quarantine Violation
58-year-old Sharon Ann Kotoshirodo of Waipahu is accused of shopping three different times at a local grocery store after arriving back in Honolulu last Sunday. This is a violation of the State’s mandatory quarantine rule. She was arrested this morning by Special Agents from the Investigations Division of the AG’s office, booked, charged and bailed out on a $2,000 bail.

Helpful Resources  

• City & County of Honolulu
  Honolulu COVID-19 webpage:
  oneoahu.org
  Interisland passengers arriving on O‘ahu are not subject to the mandatory quarantine.
  To report violators: 808-723-3900 or [email protected]

 Hawai‘i COVID-19 Joint Information Center
(808) 636-8194
[email protected] 

Dan Dennison
Lead Public Information Officer
Hawaii COVID-19 Joint Information Center
[email protected]

Senior Communications Manager
Hawaii Dept. of Land & Natural Resources
Communications Office
[email protected]
(808) 587-0396