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The Queen’s health system again declared an “internal state of emergency” for its hospital in West Oahu on Monday, as the number of admissions there exceeded the number of beds available during the rise in omicrones in Hawaii.
The statement for Queen’s Medical Center-West Oahu puts in place certain response procedures to give the hospital emergency department time to relieve pressure, such as downtown, according to Chief Operating Officer Jason Chang.
Chang said that QMC-West, which has 104 beds, had an inpatient occupancy rate of 112% at 3:00 p.m. Monday, with 58 patients waiting in the emergency room and 16 inpatients waiting for a bed upstairs.
According to Queen’s, about 25 of these patients are COVID-19 patients.
At the same time, 96 health care providers at QMC-West are absent due to exposure to COVID-19, which, according to Chang, creates additional challenges. However, QMC-West will not be closed and residents of the area should still go to the hospital in an emergency.
“The safety and well-being of our patients and staff remain our top priority,” Chang said in a statement.
At the end of August, Queen’s also declared a state of emergency for Queen’s-West during the peak of the delta rise.
On Monday, the state’s Department of Health reported 3,875 new coronavirus infections, bringing the state’s total number since the pandemic started to 147,099 cases.
The seven-day average of new cases nationwide climbed to a high of 3,439, while the average positivity rate was at a record high of 20.6%, meaning at least 1 in 5 people tested in Hawaii will test positive for COVID-19 .
Governor David Ige said Monday during an interview on the Honolulu Star Advertiser’s live stream “Spotlight Hawaii” that the state is still pending approval of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s funding for more than 900 mainland aid workers in support of COVID-19 -Fighting patient waiting in Hawaii.
Although Ige said he was concerned about the rising number of cases, he announced no new measures to contain the rise in coronavirus infections.
“We are closely monitoring the health system and the number of hospitals, and it has increased steadily,” he said. “The only area that has seen a slow increase is really the intensive care units with COVID patients. We had heard that Omicron may not be as virulent as Delta or previous COVID cases and that is certainly something we are looking into. “
At 1 p.m. on Monday, the state’s Hawaii Emergency Management Agency reported that there were 328 patients with the coronavirus in hospitals in Hawaii, including 32 in intensive care units and 12 on ventilators.
At 4:30 p.m. on Monday, HI-EMA revised these numbers to 312, including 31 in intensive care and 13 on ventilators, based on a correction submitted by one of the hospitals.
“We’re looking at the number of COVID patients in the intensive care units,” said Ige. “This is really an indication of a serious illness, and with omicron we are seeing fewer COVID patients in our intensive care units, although this is increasing very, very slowly.”
Queen’s meanwhile announced that it has converted its Island Urgent Care in Kakaako into a dedicated COVID-19 test site in response to increased demand and that it will maintain extended hours at its Blaisdell Center vaccination clinic.
The clinic in the center’s Pikake room is open every day, except Sundays and Tuesdays, from 7.30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Vaccinations are possible by appointment or in passing.
By Monday, 24.8% of the state’s population had completed COVID-19 vaccinations, with an increase of about 28%. No new deaths were reported Monday and the Hawaiian COVID-19 death toll remained at 1,105.