By Pepper Fisher
PORT ANGELES – Health officials are beginning to see signs of a possible late-summer COVID-19 surge in Washington after months of low transmission rates. But health officials say it’s a little early yet to be too concerned.
The state’s COVID levels have remained fairly steady all summer, though there have been a few ups and downs in hospitalizations — and most Washingtonians appear to have gone back to attending large gatherings and rarely wear masks indoors. But cases are on the rise again nationwide, and hospital admissions have increased about 12% in the last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As for Clallam County, Health Officer Dr. Allison Berry says Covid is still making people sick, but she’s not expecting a big uptick in cases.
“So, yes, we are starting to see an uptick in Covid-19 cases. Thankfully, we are not seeing the level of severe disease that we used to see. We have so much built-up population immunity from vaccination and, often, some degree of infection in the last couple years, that we’re not expecting the kind of severe disease surge that used to shut down our hospitals a couple of years ago.”
So, just because you may know someone who has gotten Covid lately, there’s no reason to go changing any end-of-summer plans. Just be careful around some groups, especially if you’re not feeling well yourself.
“That said, there are still people who are at high risk. So, people over the age of 65, people with underlying conditions or immunosuppression. And, actually, little babies. So, babies under the age of six months aren’t eligible for a vaccine yet, and they’ve never seen Covid before because they weren’t here in the last couple of years. And so, they can get quite ill as well.”