— by Minor Lile, Orcas Issues reporter —
At this morning’s County Council meeting, County Health Officer Dr. Frank James advised the Council that he has sent an email to the County Board of Health recommending that the County withdraw its application to move to Phase 3 under the Governor’s phased reopening plan. The Board of Health and County Council will meet on Wednesday to consider Dr. James’ recommendation.
In making his recommendation, Dr. James pointed out that the situation has changed considerably since the original application to move to phase 3 was submitted to the State on June 26. That application, Dr. James said, is now ‘completely out of date and the honest thing to do is withdraw it.’
Dr James said that the three most recent cases in the County suggest that for the first time there appears to be community spread of the virus. Community spread means that there is uncertainty as to how a person contracted the virus. In the 19 previous cases identified in San Juan County, the transmission of the virus has been traceable to a localized source such as a trip to the mainland or visit from an off-island family member.
A related factor that went into his reasoning is the County’s inability to obtain timely testing results. Dr. James said that the testing sample for one of the cases identified last weekend was submitted on July 6, but that the Covid-19 response team did not learn the results until July 12. He noted that on average the national labs are currently taking five to eight days to provide testing results. “That’s a huge disadvantage,” said Dr. James, noting that those who have contracted the virus are capable of transmitting it to others up to two days before becoming symptomatic.
James added that another significant local factor is that the personnel involved in contact tracing and related responses to positive cases of the virus are nearing the limit of their ability to respond. He said that in his case he hasn’t had a day off in three and a half months.
Dr. James concluded by saying that, “Now is not the time to move forward boldly, now is the time for us to go the other direction.”
Councilmember Rick Hughes responded to Dr James recommendation by saying that, “every decision we’ve made has been based on the information available at that point in time. The Council’s commitment throughout this whole process, whether it means moving forward or backward, is to be cognizant of the change in the science and try to make science-based decisions.”
Following Hughes’ remarks, the Council agreed to schedule a special meeting for Wednesday afternoon at 1:30 pm, immediately following the Board of Health meeting that will begin at 11:30 am.
I’m pleased to hear that science is again playing a major role in the Council’s deliberations. As I’ve been saying now for almost a month, we need to hold fast at 50 percent occupancy of restaurants — and given the rapidly-changing COVID scene, probably for the summer.
As a business owner I would like to say thank you to Frank James for standing up and speaking truth to the current situation….We need facts and a plan so that we can stay safe during this difficult time.
Thanks again to Dr. James for his wisdom and concern about the health of residents of San Juan County. Our success in containing the virus has been due to his actions and those of Gov. Inslee, and to all who have followed the guidelines and restrictions. The new cases remind us that we are still vulnerable and need to be cautious and guided by science. Let’s all do the right thing so Dr. James can have a day-off in the foreseeable future!
We should all be grateful to have Dr. James as our County Health Officer. While applying for Phase 3 may have been premature before, the reasons Dr. James describes for withdrawing that application now could hardly be more compelling: new cases suggesting community spread, test results taking up to a week, and lack of sufficient personnel to do contact tracing when tests are positive. Nor will this situation improve with the large number of visitors arriving every day (largely ignoring the Phase 2 prohibition of non-essential ferry travel to San Juan County). I hope our elected County Council has the wisdom and courage to proactively withdraw the Phase 3 application rather than leaving it to State officials to decide for them how best to protect their island constituents.
Yesterday, I wrote to Dr. James to thank him for his leadership. I hope he’s seeing the groundswell of support here and on Facebook over the past few months. He has one of the hardest jobs in our county right now. Crises can define true leaders, and he is shining right now. He has my utmost respect. Be safe, happy and well everyone.
Kuos for Dr. James. Our politicians appear to be listening! Our demographic majority, (seniors), needs all the support they can get!