Federal & State Assessments of Facility Near Completion

Twelve deaths among residents of the Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home in Hilo have been confirmed and added to the state’s reported COVID-19 related deaths today. These deaths include 11 men and one (1) woman, all in the 70 to 80-year-old age group and with underlying health conditions. Ten of the residents passed away at the home and two others were hospitalized. Reporting on these deaths was delayed due to pending medical reports required for verification and classification of deaths as COVID-19.

In total, there are now 15 deaths confirmed by the State among residents of the Yukio Okutsu State Veterans home. Three separate assessments into the infections and deaths at the facility were initiated and are completed or near completion. One was conducted by a team from the U.S. Veterans Administration (VA), a second by the Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA), and a third, an unannounced inspection of infection control measures was conducted by the DOH Office of Health Care Assurance (OHCA).

The findings and recommendations in the two assessments conducted by the VA and the Incident Command Medical Support Team (HI-EMA, ESF-8) have been transmitted to the Yukio Okutsu Veterans Home and are being prepared for release. It is expected these reports will be ready soon. The DOH/OHCA unannounced inspection report is being completed today and will be transmitted to the facility before being shared with the public.

An additional death from COVID-19, unrelated to the home, is also being reported today. A 70 to 79-year-old O‘ahu man, with underlying health conditions, who had been hospitalized at the time of his death. This brings the cumulative total of COVID-19 related deaths to 120.