||| FROM BRENDAN COWAN for DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT |||
Since the last update on Friday January 28, there have been 62 new confirmed or probable cases in San Juan County. Current case count is now 1048. Encouragingly, this is less than half the number of new cases reported last week.
- LOPEZ ISLAND: There are seven new cases on Lopez Island since the last update.
- ORCAS ISLAND: There are seventeen new cases on Orcas Island since the last update.
- SAN JUAN ISLAND: There are thirty-eight new cases on San Juan Island since the last update.
CRITICAL INFO:
- The final remaining vaccine clinics being offered by San Juan County Health & Community Services are open for
registration. These clinics will be your best remaining opportunity to get vaccinated or get your booster. Local pharmacies and medical providers will continue to provide vaccination, and there will be additional pediatric clinics, but there will be fewer opportunities for vaccination in the islands come March. - Are you moderately or severely immunocompromised? You should talk to your medical provider about your potential
need for a third primary dose of vaccine in addition to your booster. Go here for more info. - Though still high, case rates have started to decline in much of Western Washington (though still on the rise in Eastern
Washington). Hospitalization rates have slowed but are not yet dropping, and death rates are still increasing- both trends that
make sense given the time that usually passes between initial infection and hospitalization for those with the most
severe cases of COVID. With luck, current trends will hold and we’ll see cases drop quickly in the islands over the next
few weeks.
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Based on the running tallies I’ve been keeping on Lopez, Orcas and San Juan Islands, this definitely looks like a significant decrease in the county case numbers—not just a statistical down-fluctuation. Of course, another outbreak or super-spreader event could turn the numbers around in a day, so we have to continue being vigilant. That means continuing to wear our face coverings in indoor public spaces.