PORT ANGELES – There was another surge of 15 Covid cases reported over the weekend for a total of 195. Despite that, the important metric of cases per 100-thousand population over the last 2 weeks dropped significantly from 97 on Friday to 84 today. Rising above 75 put us into the High-Risk category. 25-or-less is the number considered favorable.
Health Officer Dr. Allison Berry Unthank told us the latest cases are primarily traced to last week’s bar outbreak and other large gatherings, with Port Angeles and people in their 20s still driving the latest surge.
Though the messaging from health officials has consistently included avoiding tourists and visitors from Seattle and other more populated areas, Dr. Unthank says we’ve now crossed a concerning threshold.
“I think the one story that I noticed towards the end of last week is that King County’s actually been getting their numbers lower. They’ve been really working hard to turn their trajectory around, and so we actually, currently have a higher rate of infection than King County in the recent weeks. So I think that’s just good for people to know, that the risk here is actually higher than in many other parts of the state. And so it’s really important right now to be vigilant in those interpersonal interactions.”
Dr. Unthank attributes King County’s success lately to a higher percentage of people and businesses there following health guidelines.
“We have to get more broad-based support for the guidelines in our community. I think a lot of people are taking this really seriously and doing the best they can but I think there are still pockets of our community that haven’t come on board with covid-19 safety guidelines, and we really need everybody.”