Hale Makua Health Services has confirmed today that one resident has tested positive for COVID-19 at the Kahului facility. The resident continues to be cared for at Hale Makua Kahului in quarantine. This positive case has been discovered after one resident and two staff at the Kahului facility have tested positive within the last week.  

The other resident and staff cases confirmed positive on 1/8/21 and 1/9/21 were proven to be unrelated to each other and unrelated to the two most recent cases as there had been no contact and the individuals are assigned to different areas of the large facility. Ongoing research and contact tracing are occurring since today’s confirmed case resided in an area of the facility that the staff confirmed positive on 1/11/21 was dedicated to. 

Hale Makua Kahului will continue to test all residents (200 in total) and staff (over 400 in total) every three to four days until the facility receives 100% negative test results over a 14-day period.  

Hale Makua Health Services CEO, Wesley Lo, comments, “With so many Kahului cases in close proximity to our campus, we have been hopeful that our case count would not increase dramatically. With these few positive cases that we are currently dealing with, I’m grateful for our team and leadership at Hale Makua for moving swiftly and following their mitigation plan under these circumstances. Although this is difficult to handle, the care that the team provides to each resident and to each other is incomparable. It isn’t easy to manage such a large healthcare facility, but the teams do it with complete compassion for each individual, even in these high-stress environments.” 

The Hale Makua team is committed to continual communication regarding any additional updates in relation to the current COVID-19 cases in the Kahului facility. Understanding that the organization touches and affects many families, additional information will be updated as it becomes available.  

Last updated January 11, 2021

An additional round of testing all residents and staff is occurring today and tomorrow and one more round will be completed next week. Thus far, no other tests have resulted in positive for COVID-19. Updates will be communicated as they become available. 

Last updated January 9, 2021

Hale Makua Health Services has confirmed that one staff has tested positive for COVID-19 at the Kahului facility. The individual is asymptomatic and is in quarantine at home. The positive case was discovered through a baseline round of testing all residents and staff after a resident was confirmed positive for COVID-19 earlier this week. The two cases are unrelated as they did not have contact and were in different areas in the facility. After completing first round of testing that included 195 residents and 354 staff, all others have been negative. Two additional rounds of testing are planned of all residents and staff within the next two weeks. 

Hale Makua CEO, Wes Lo, remarks, “Although this is unfortunate news, it reminds us that there may be asymptomatic individuals in the community so following all COVID-19 precautions is still extremely important. With the recent increase of positive COVID-19 cases on Maui, I’m hopeful that with the rollout of the vaccine we will be able to slowly take steps back to normalcy again and our residents will be reunited with their loved ones.” 

Last updated January 8, 2021

Hale Makua Health Services has confirmed one resident has tested positive for COVID-19 at Hale Makua Kahului. The resident is currently asymptomatic and being cared for while in quarantine at the facility. Hale Makua has begun immediate testing of all staff and residents. Updates will be shared as they become available. Three rounds of testing will occur of all residents and staff for the next 14 days. 

Hale Makua Administrator, Teana Kaho‘ohanohano comments, “Although many of us face COVID fatigue, our staff has continued to social distance, wash our hands frequently and wear masks at all times. Now is the time to really buckle down and follow all precautions. Until the vaccines are widely distributed, we cannot let our guard down. As a team, we are committed to keeping our kupuna safe, healthy and happy.” 

Hale Makua Kahului will suspend all in-person, socially distanced family visits until further notice. Virtual visits and calls are encouraged until in-person visits are resumed. 

The first round of COVID-19 vaccinations were recently administered at the Kahului facility on December 30 and 31, 2020. Hale Makua reports that 80% of residents and 40% of staff took the first dose of the vaccine. The next vaccine clinic for Hale Makua Kahului staff and residents will occur on January 29-30, 2021. Hale Makua Wailuku residents and staff will receive their first vaccines on January 11, 2021. 

At Hale Makua, precautions include: 

· Staff and vendors screened for respiratory symptoms and/or fever prior to entering the campuses since early March.