Mayor weighing ‘additional restrictions’ as cases rise

Mayor Michael Victorino is consulting with medical advisors on whether additional restrictions are necessary due to an uptick in cases on Maui and the news last week that a COVID-19 variant predominant in California may be to blame.

“I am consulting with our medical advisors to determine if additional restrictions are needed at this time,” Victorino said in a news release over the weekend.

On Friday, doctors with the state Department of Health said Maui’s increase in cases over the past week – which at times matched or exceeded daily case counts on Oahu – may be due to the B.1.429 variant, previously called the L452R variant, which is associated with increasing numbers of cases in California, where it’s become the predominant strain.

More cases of the B.1.429 variant were found on Maui than on any other island through surveillance testing, DOH said.

“We really need to ramp up compliance to safety protocols or the alternative would be really high case numbers in the coming week, possibly resulting in tighter restrictions,” Maui District Health Officer Dr. Lorrin Pang said.

Pang and other health experts told people to mask up, social distance and wash hands frequently even as restrictions in some places are being relaxed, according to a news release.

Victorino and Pang both made comments on Saturday as the DOH reported 75 cases for Maui, though the DOH explained that 31 of those cases were not previously confirmed due to a laboratory reporting issue. The cases occurred between Nov. 29 and Feb. 18.

Victorino said the Health Department also reported on Saturday that 19 cases are from the Maui Community Correctional Center cluster, seven resulting from a bar and restaurant cluster and nine cases in another cluster for which health officials did not identify a cause or setting. The 10 remaining cases are attributed to community spread, including seven connected to a previously diagnosed case, and two travel-related cases.

“DOH is following standard protocol with contact tracing and quarantine isolation,” Victorino said. “Hawaii Health Director Dr. Libby Char also confirmed the DOH will deploy a second round of vaccinations at the correctional facility and another vaccine round in affected housing complexes in

Central Maui. I have also requested supplemental vaccines for Maui in the coming days and weeks.”

As of Friday, the latest information available, the jail had 34 active cases and 11 inmates recovered.

On Feb. 22, 150 inmates were vaccinated at MCCC. Health officials said that jail staff have already been vaccinated.