Ongoing need for life-saving program for the state’s most underserved populations HONOLULU — Hawaii’s syringe exchange program (SEP), the nation’s first, was established more than 30 years ago by the Hawai‘i Department of Health to respond to the growing AIDS/HIV crisis in the state. It continues to demonstrate its effectiveness in preventing disease, based on ...
Read More New report highlights ongoing success of Hawai‘i Syringe Exchange Program
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HONOLULU – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today granted Emergency Use Authorization for Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccination. With the FDA authorization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will soon issue recommendations on who should receive the vaccine and how it should be distributed. “Today’s announcement ...
Read More Following FDA approval, Hawai‘i awaits national guidelines on use of Johnson & Johnson vaccine
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) is advising the public to avoid waters near the City and County of Honolulu Kailua Wastewater Treatment Plant’s ocean outfall (pictured below). The City began discharging wastewater that exceeds the bacteria limits in their state permit on Feb. 18, 2021. The permit violation was first reported by ...
Read More Department of Health warns ocean users at Kailua Bay to avoid waters near the Kailua Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant’s ocean outfall
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health’s State Laboratories Division (SLD) confirms the presence of a new COVID variant in Hawai‘i. The P.2 variant, which contains the E484K mutation, was identified through surveillance testing conducted on O‘ahu. While the implications of this additional strain are unknown at this time, the P.2 variant is closely watched ...
Read More Department of Health State Laboratory finds new variant
HONOLULU – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides guidance that has helped Hawai‘i to effectively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week, Hawai‘i returns the favor to the CDC by providing lessons learned from last year’s cluster traced to three fitness centers highlighted in a scientific paper published today in the CDC’s ...
Read More Hawai‘i Department of Health presents best practices on managing clusters with CDC
HONOLULU – Hawai‘i State Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Char today announced that the state will soon open COVID-19 vaccinations to those 70 and older. Currently, kūpuna 75 and older are eligible to get vaccinated. “We’re still in Phase 1b, and we’re not ready to go into Phase 1c yet. But soon, we’d like to welcome ...
Read More Department of Health prepares to open COVID-19 vaccinations to those 70 and older
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i State Department of Health, Department of Education, and University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, Curriculum Research & Development Group recently released high school data from the 2019 Hawai‘i Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) for the state and all four counties. The YRBS is a biennial survey that regularly monitors the health risk ...
Read More New findings show promising trends in Hawai‘i student health behaviors
Spotlighting Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month HONOLULU – Gov. David Y. Ige will declare March “Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month” in Hawai‘i during the 21st annual “Day at the Capitol” on March 4, 2021, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. This year’s event will be entirely virtual via ZOOM and the theme is “Treat All People with ...
Read More ZOOM Day “at” the State Capitol on March 4
Young adults and households that earn less are most vulnerable HONOLULU – The virus that causes COVID-19 is affecting the mental health of all Hawai‘i residents, but especially for young adults and those whose household income is less than $50,000. A recent survey commissioned by the Hawai‘i Department of Health showed a solid majority, or ...
Read More Hawai‘i Department of Health survey shows pandemic is affecting mental health of Hawai‘i residents
HONOLULU – The majority or 91% of respondents in a recent statewide survey plan to get the COVID-19 vaccine, a strong indication that attitudes about the vaccine are rapidly shifting since administration of the vaccinations first began in mid-December. According to the survey commissioned by the Hawai‘i Department of Health, 55% plan to get vaccinated ...
Read More Hawai‘i Department of Health survey shows diverse views of pandemic and responses
HONOLULU – There has been an alarming increase in various types of COVID-19 scams across the nation, and kūpuna and other Hawai‘i residents are not exempt from being targeted as potential victims. The Hawai‘i Department of Health, in collaboration with the Department of the Attorney General, Executive Office on Aging’s Senior Medicare Patrol Hawaii (SMP), ...
Read More Hawai‘i Department of Health warns public about COVID-19 scams
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health’s Office of Health Care Assurance (OHCA) conducted a series of site visits at Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home on behalf of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The unannounced visits were designed to determine the Home’s compliance with federal certification requirements. The unannounced visits resulted ...
Read More Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home in Hilo receives 0,640 federal civil penalty for infection control deficiencies
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health’s State Laboratories Division (SLD) confirms the presence of the B.1.1.7 variant in Hawai‘i. The confirmed specimen is one of four samples previously identified in Hawai‘i as having a molecular clue consistent with the B.1.1.7 variant. The other specimens are still being analyzed. “We have already initiated contact tracing ...
Read More Department of Health State Laboratory confirms presence of B.1.1.7 variant
HONOLULU — The Department of Health’s State Laboratories Division (SLD) continues to work in partnership with private sector laboratories to collect and examine specimens of the SARSCoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19. To date, nine samples of the L452R variant have been identified and four specimens that exhibit a molecular clue associated with the UK B1.1.7 ...
Read More State lab detects additional COVID-19 variants
HONOLULU —To ensure the water at Hawai‘i public schools and child care facilities is safe to drink, the Hawai‘i State Department of Education (HIDOE), Department of Health (DOH), and Department of Human Services (DHS) will launch a joint project to test tap water at selected schools and child care facilities for the presence of lead. ...
Read More Drinking water at selected Hawai‘i public schools and child care facilities to be tested for lead from May to December 2021
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) Food Safety Branch has issued a red “CLOSED” placard to Doner Shack at 79 South Pauahi St. in Honolulu due to repeated instances of employees not wearing face masks while working. The Food Safety Branch received a complaint alleging that Doner Shack employees were not wearing masks ...
Read More Department of Health issues red placard to Doner Shack due to repeated mask wearing violations
KALAUPAPA – The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) delivered and administered COVID-19 vaccines to residents and employees at the Kalaupapa Settlement of Kalawao County on the island of Moloka‘i this week. Dr. Glenn Wasserman, chief of the Communicable Disease and Public Health Nursing Division of the Hawai‘i Department of Health, and two DOH public health ...
Read More Kalawao County receives COVID-19 vaccines
Research shows that half of Hawaii’s population wants the vaccine and another quarter are still deciding HONOLULU – Findings from a survey that was conducted last month have informed the Hawai‘i State Department of Health’s focus on outreach to key segments of the population that are prioritized to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. The study also ...
Read More DOH targets outreach on COVID-19 vaccine education
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) has identified and confirmed 60 previously unreported COVID-19 related deaths. These deaths were linked to COVID-19 after a thorough review of the DOH Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS). The deaths occurred in August through December, 2020 with 51 deaths reported on O‘ahu, six on Hawai‘i, and three ...
Read More Records review reveals 60 COVID-19 related deaths
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) State Laboratories Division (SLD) has detected the SARS-CoV-2 variant L452R. This strain of COVID-19 was first detected in Denmark in March 2020. It is now found in more than a dozen U.S. states. Science has not shown the L452R variant spreads more quickly or poses a greater ...
Read More State lab detects COVID-19 variant