A free short-term community COVID-19 testing program will be set up by the County of Hawaiʻi to address the reported cluster at the Hawaiʻi Community Correctional Center (HCCC) in Hilo. Testing will begin tomorrow, Wednesday, June 16, and continue through June 26. Tomorrow’s testing site will be at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, with subsequent testing sites to be determined. The public will be notified of any changes to testing locations. Currently, a total of 199 inmates and 19 staff have tested positive for the virus.
Testing is set to be administered on the following days:
- Wednesday, June 16 and 23
- Saturday, June 19 and 26
The decision was made based on the following:
- Number of positives amongst HCCC staff and the continued possibility of community spread;
- The overall increase in visitor arrivals;
- The lifting of inter-island flight restrictions on June 15;
- The increasing number of social gatherings due to graduation and other summer activities.
“At this time, we feel that setting up a testing program is the best way for us to gather data to ensure that our communities remain protected,” said Mayor Mitch Roth. “We are slowly beginning our return to normalcy, and ensuring that we don’t trip at the finish line is our number one priority. We would also like to remind residents that with the new variants becoming prevalent in the community that it is truly our kuleana to get vaccinated to keep our community healthy, happy, and safe as we begin our recovery towards a thriving Hawaiʻi Island.”
Testing and vaccinations will also be made available to HCCC staff/families upon request.