The Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Dashboard for Wednesday, July 29, at 7:35 a.m.:

Worldwide cases: 16,819,944    Worldwide deaths: 662,081

U.S. cases: 4,387,414   U.S. deaths: 149,873

According to the Dashboard, the reported worldwide cases increased by 279,827 in the last 26 hours, and 6,781 deaths due to COVID-19 were reported.

According to the Johns Hopkins Dashboard, the United States has added 127,747 cases in the last 26 hours, and reported deaths attributed to COVID-19 have increased by 1,575.

Hawaii continues to have a relatively low case count, as compared to the mainland United States.   But in the last week, the daily case counts have been higher than before.  Lt. Gov. Josh Green has pointed out that in the past month, there have been 839 new cases, about the same amount as in the previous 5 months.  At least 36 cases are associated with a funeral on O’ahu, with Pacific Islanders mainly being infected.

In an Island Conversations interview aired on July 19, 2020, with Dr. Scott Miscovich of Premier Medical Group, which has been conducting testing statewide, he said it is imperative to develop better ways to communicate with the different ethnic groups in the state.  He said the State Health Department needs to reach out in a more effective way, especially as there are many multi-generational, multi-ethnic families living close together and continuing to socialize.  One example is the cluster of at least 36 cases associated with the three McDonald’s Restaurants in Kona (now resolved) where people were living and socializing together.

Other clusters on O’ahu have been associated with bars, and Mayor Kirk Caldwell is now proposing to shut bars on that island down for three weeks to help gain control of the virus.  Most of the recent cases have been on O’ahu.