Jefferson County had five new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, and Clallam County added one, bringing the total of the Northern Olympic Peninsula to 115 since March and 11 in just two days.
Four teens at a Jefferson County home contracted COVID-19 from their parents, who were previously confirmed to have the virus, said Dr. Tom Locke, county health officer.
“The entire family, husband, wife and four children, are infected,” Locke said in an interview on Wednesday.
“That caused a huge jump, but it is a cluster. It’s something we like to see in the sense that everyone was quarantined when they turned positive. ”
A fifth Jefferson County case, unrelated to the group, brought the total number of county cases to 49.
19 in a week
Clallam County has had 19 new cases of COVID-19 in the past week.
“People want to believe this is over,” said Locke.
“Elected officials are telling them nationwide that it’s over, and it’s as wrong as it could be.”
The latest Clallam County case, and its number 66 overall, involved a teenager who contracted the highly contagious virus at a July 4 meeting, said Dr. Allison Unthank, health officer.
Several recent cases have involved young people who attended the July 4 parties, Unthank said.
None of the recent cases in Clallam County has required hospitalizations, Unthank said.
“We have definitely seen pre-symptomatic transmission, or minimally symptomatic transmission,” Unthank said Wednesday.
“Some of these more recent cases that we analyzed were analyzed before symptoms developed.”
Two hospitalized
Locke said two people in the Jefferson County group were hospitalized.
“The remaining family members, I can say, are all teenagers, and that’s a trend,” said Locke.
“We are seeing increasingly younger people infected. Although, in this case, these were not teenagers who were partying. ”
Domestic transmission “is not uncommon” with COVID-19 due to asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission, Locke said.
Clallam and Jefferson counties are in Phase 2 of the Gov’s four-phase reopening plan. Jay Inslee “Safe Start” for COVID-19. Jefferson County has applied to enter Phase 3.
Extended pause
Inslee announced on Tuesday an extension of a current hiatus in phased reopens through July 28.
Counties must have fewer than 25 cases per 100,000 residents to qualify for the next phase.
Given the avalanche of new cases, Clallam and Jefferson counties were not eligible to enter Phase 3 as of Wednesday.
“We will not recommend it, nor would it be an option,” said Unthank.
“We are trying to keep the line on that. We need low numbers of cases before it is safe to move forward. ”
Health officials continue to push to mask compliance and at least 6 feet of physical distance to curb the spread of the virus.
“These sacrifices now of some of these things that are not so essential, so sacrificing the parties, for example, is what makes it possible to open more businesses and open schools more fully in the fall,” said Unthank.
Locke said he planned to address school reopens as part of his COVID-19 report to the Jefferson County Board of Health today.
“We will have a discussion about whether and when we go to Phase 3 in Jefferson County, do we want to do all of the Phase 3 activities?” Locke said.
“We have the option locally to do less than the state allows.”
The Clallam County Board of Health will discuss COVID-19 at its next meeting on Tuesday. Topics will include phased reopens, a public health message campaign, and an update on the Clallam County Social Distance Center.
Unthank said the teens who contracted COVID-19 showed “very minimal symptoms, if any.”
“I think one of the important points that we want people to know is that if you are exposed to COVID-19, it is very likely that someone may not know if they have COVID-19,” said Unthank.
“Either they are asymptomatic, or their symptoms are so mild that they may not know [by] looking at them. ”
Locke said he agreed with Inslee’s decision to extend the hiatus in reopens by stages.
“We have to have this under better control across the state,” Locke said.
“If things are spiraling out of control elsewhere, it is only a matter of time before that affects Jefferson County.
“We really need a national response to this, but we don’t have that,” Locke added.
“We have a state response and we really need to treat it as such. We should all stay on the same page across the state. ”
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be contacted at [email protected].
->
