The Departmnt of Health was to issue a revised health advisory today pertaining to travelers traveling to the territory from Hawaii.
However Director of Health Motusa Tuileama Nua says in light of news of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 or Coronavirus in Hawaii, DOH needs to consult with the LBJ Hospital first before coming out wuth a final advisory for travelers from Hawaii.
Today Hawaii Governor David Ige annouonced that a Hawaii resident who traveled on a cruise ship in early February that’s been linked to more than two dozen cases of coronavirus has tested positive for the virus after returning to the islands and falling ill, .
The person is now in quarantine at home and is “doing well,” officials said.
Gov. Ige said the resident traveled on the Grand Princess during a cruise that started Feb. 11, returned home to the islands by air, and then subsequently sought medical care after getting sick.
State officials say the person has had little to no contact with anyone else since exhibiting symptoms, but was out in the community while still asymptomatic.
The patient was tested Thursday and the results came back Friday afternoon.
Ige said while the case is concerning, authorities don’t believe it increases the risk the virus is being spread in the community. That’s because of the patient’s limited contact with others since getting sick.
The patient presumably contracted the virus on the Grand Princess, a mammoth cruise ship that’s been linked to a growing cluster of coronavirus cases.
“This is not a case of spread in the community,” Ige said.
“We wanted to reemphasize that we believe they became infected on the cruise itself.”
At a news conference Friday, state Health Department Director Bruce Anderson said the patient started the cruise Feb. 11 in San Francisco and got off in Mexico rather than returning to California.
The patient then flew back to Honolulu and started to feel sick.
Also at the news conference, Anderson said that at least 90 people are “self-monitoring” at home because of recent travel to places with a large number of coronavirus cases.
But just eight people in the islands have been tested so far for the virus.
