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The Maui News
The state Department of Health announced Wednesday that it is transitioning from daily to weekly COVID-19 data reporting effective immediately.
Case counts and vaccination updates will now be published on the DOH COVID-19 dashboard every Wednesday beginning next week.
"Our decisions have always been based on trends, not single day counts," state Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Char said in a news release. "There is greater focus now on weekly hospital admissions, weekly hospital occupancy and weekly case counts when calculating the current community levels of COVID-19. Our processes are evolving as the pandemic evolves."
The change comes as Gov. David Ige announced last week that the state's current emergency proclamation will sunset at 11:59 p.m. March 25.
"More and more people are taking COVID-19 tests at home. Those tests are not counted in our data. This means our case counts are not as accurate a reflection of COVID-19 in the community as they once were," State Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Kemble said. "We are still monitoring case counts, but hospital metrics now play a larger role in our decisions."
She added that vaccination progress is still an important metric but monitoring weekly interval progress is better than looking at day-to-day incremental changes to determine if progress is being made or needed.
Char commended the department's data team for its work at an "exhausting pace" for almost two years.
According to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, only nine states report daily COVID-19 case counts.
On Wednesday, DOH reported 154 new confirmed and probable cases statewide, including 88 on Oahu, 20 on Maui, eight on Hawaii island, six on Kauai and 32 residents diagnosed out of state.
With the change, The Maui News will publish its "COVID-19 at a glance" box on Page A2 on a weekly basis only. If cases and hospitalizations spike and the state goes back to daily reporting, The Maui News will also resume daily reporting.