PORT ANGELES – Clallam County has reported a seventh death due to COVID-19 since the pandemic began a year ago.
County Health Officer Dr. Allison Berry says a woman in her 80’s with chronic conditions died at home under hospice care. She was not vaccinated.
Berry says they’re not seeing a sudden surge in COVID cases yet, but there is a continuous climb in rates that shows no sign of letting up.
The county reported four more cases on Monday, added to seven over the weekend. No one has been hospitalized in nearly two months according to the data. It’s been just over a month since the last COVID death was reported in Clallam County.
The latest cases have pushed Clallam County to 93 cases per 100,000 in the last two weeks, well into the high risk category.
For now, Clallam County will be allowed to stay in Phase 3 of the state’s reopening plan.
Starting Friday, Cowlitz, Pierce and Whitman counties will roll back to Phase 2 of the state’s economic reopening plan. That means decreasing capacity for indoor dining at restaurants, retail stores and gyms from 50% to 25%. Limits on indoor and outdoor gatherings are also reduced. New coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in those three counties exceeded criteria set by Gov. Jay Inslee to stay in Phase 3. The next evaluation of counties will be on May 3. Nearly 70 state business organizations last Friday urged the governor to delay for three weeks any decision to return any counties to the more restrictive standards.