(BIVN) – From the Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense on Thursday morning:

On today’s update of COVID-19, the number of active cases, on Hawaii Island, monitored by the Department of Health is twenty-five. There are seven new cases of Coronavirus on Hawaii Island. These cases are now isolated and monitored by the Department of Health. At this date, for Hawaii Island, two are hospitalized.

For your information, a food drop is scheduled today in North Kona at the Old Kona Gym beginning at 10am. There will be Coronavirus testing for the general public scheduled for Friday at the University of Hawaii Gymnasium in Hilo from 11:00 in the morning ‘til 3:00 in the afternoon.

Hawaii Island has seen a daily increase of positive cases for the past two weeks. Most of these recent cases are not travel related which means the virus is being transmitted within the community. Data from the Department of Health shows the majority of these new cases have been identified as Hilo based. A review is underway to see what policy changes need to occur to address the growing spread of the virus. It has been noted that many have not been following the policies of gatherings, distancing and wearing of face coverings.

Know that person to person close contact is the main method that the virus is spread and we need your help in following the guidelines of gatherings, distancing and face coverings.