The Maui News

COVID-19 clusters under investigation in Maui County have declined over the past week, though the number of cases connected to the travel, lodging and tourism industry shot up to 11 clusters and 154 cases, according to the state Department of Health’s weekly cluster report on Thursday.

Last week there were seven clusters of 93 cases associated with the travel industry, which Mayor Michael Victorino said were the result of employees gathering outside of work or returning to the job too soon when they still had symptoms.

Overall, however, most clusters in Maui County shrank over the past week. Other active investigations included five clusters of 41 cases in educational settings (a decline from the six clusters and 48 cases reported last week), one cluster of 18 cases among food suppliers (down from two clusters and 34 cases) and one cluster of two cases tied to restaurants (down from two clusters and seven cases).

Gone from this week’s report was the cluster at King’s Cathedral and Chapels, which had reached 90 total cases as of last week, according to the department, and the cluster at the Maui Community Correctional Center, which had risen to 100 cases.

Despite the decline in clusters and cases, Maui County continued to have the highest number of clusters in the state with 18. Honolulu County followed with 12 clusters across educational settings, restaurants, the construction industry and social gatherings. Hawaii County had two clusters in a place of worship and other settings and Kauai County had none.