A breakdown of confirmed COVID-19 cases by age shows that the majority of reported cases have been under age 40 in Jefferson County, and in Clallam County, the age group with the highest number of cases has been 0-19.
Health officials warn that the total number of 122 confirmed cases in the Northern Olympic Peninsula since March is too small to provide true statistical trends.
People over the age of 65 have been seen to be at the highest risk of contracting the virus since March, but younger people recently accounted for an increasing percentage of cases in the U.S., national media have reported.
On Wednesday, a break in new COVID-19 cases gave Peninsula health officials time to focus on infection control and data analysis.
Jefferson County reached a one-week milestone on Wednesday with no new COVID-19 cases reported since July 15. Jefferson County has had 50 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus.
“When we breathe a little, we use it to work on our programs, especially prevention,” said Dr. Tom Locke, Jefferson County Health Officer, Wednesday.
“We would rather prevent problems than deal with our failures in prevention.”
Clallam County had four new cases reported Tuesday night, but there were no cases Wednesday, said Dr. Allison Unthank, the county health officer.
Clallam County total COVID-19 cases remained at 72.
“The most important thing that is important to convey is that we are seeing this really exponential growth across the state,” Unthank said Wednesday.
“We have certainly also seen exponential growth here, and really, it is up to us to change that, and we have the capacity to do so.”
Jefferson County has had more COVID-19 infections among people ages 60-13 than any other age group, with 18 under the age of 40.
The largest age group in Clallam County reported as infected is Group 0-19, with 16 confirmed cases. The next highest, 15, is in the 50-year age group.
Health officials are encouraging the public to comply with state masking guidelines, to avoid large gatherings and to maintain at least 6 feet of physical distance.
“Although it’s summer and the great weather and people do a lot of things outside, it’s more important than ever that we take control seriously,” Locke said.
Clallam County had six cases last week and 25 during the two-week period ending Wednesday.
The most recent cases involved a teenage girl, a woman in her 20s, a woman in her 40s and a woman in her 50s, Unthank said.
None of the new cases required hospitalizations.
“Everyone is home,” said Unthank on Wednesday.
“The teenager was exposed outside the county, and the other three were exposed to known cases in the county.”
The majority of recent Clallam County cases have involved a “bimodal spike” that affects teens and their parents in their 40s and 50s, Unthank said.
“They are having family reunions with other families with children of similar ages,” said Unthank.
“Our tendency is to want to blame teens,” added Unthank. “We certainly see some cases where the kids get together and then bring him home, but generally everything comes together.”
Locke said it was difficult to identify similar trends in Jefferson County due to its limited number of cases and the fact that youth with mild or no symptoms can transmit COVID-19 without knowing that they are infected.
A college student who contracted the virus during a recent outbreak in the University of Washington fraternity system brought COVID-19 back to Jefferson County, which led to more cases, Locke said.
“Overall, I think populations at increased risk for complications, that is, people over 65 and those with chronic diseases, are still very cautious,” Locke said.
“They follow the guidelines of staying home, staying healthy, with some exceptions. Where we have to do a much better job is to convince young people and middle-aged people that it is really important that they also avoid infection. ”
Locke said some young people who get COVID-19 require hospitalizations, while others have mild symptoms.
“People have to realize that this is a very fickle and unpredictable infection,” said Locke.
“Young people can get it and pass it on to older people who have higher complication rates, so while it might not be such a big infection for a teenager, it’s something that could kill their grandparents.”
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be contacted at [email protected].
->
