||| FROM BRENDAN COWAN for DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT |||
Since the last update on Friday September 3rd, there have been twenty-two new confirmed cases in San Juan County.
Current total case count is now 288.
Of these twenty-two new cases, initial investigations indicate that eight appear to have occurred in fully vaccinated
individuals. The number continue to show clearly that being vaccinated reduces the likelihood of infection (because the
vast majority of island residents are vaccinated, we would expect many more cases in vaccinated individuals if the
vaccine did not protect against infection).
There are approximately twelve unvaccinated close contacts of positive cases who are currently in two-week quarantine.
Note that vaccinated close contacts do NOT need to quarantine and this number would be far higher if not for the high
vaccination rate in San Juan County.
There has been one additional hospitalization since the last report, however all San Juan County residents have been
discharged from the hospital as of this time.
- LOPEZ ISLAND: There is one new case on Lopez Island since the last update. There is one positive case under active monitoring on Lopez Island.
- ORCAS ISLAND: There are nine new cases on Orcas Island since the last update. There are eight positive cases under active monitoring on Orcas Island.
- SAN JUAN ISLAND: There are eight new cases on San Juan Island since the last update. There are four positive cases under active monitoring on San Juan Island.
- SHAW ISLAND: There are two new cases on Shaw Island since the last update. There are two positive cases under active monitoring on Shaw Island.
- OUTER ISLANDS: There are two new cases in the outer islands since the last update. There are two positive cases under active monitoring in the outer islands. Note that specific outer island will not be named to help maintain patient privacy given the small resident population on the outer islands.
OVERALL SITUATION
Cases numbers remain stubbornly high. If you are unvaccinated and are interacting with others indoors and unmasked,
there is a high likelihood that you will become infected at some point. Once infected, you will almost certainly infect
those you live or interact closely with, whether they are vaccinated or not. This is the nature of the delta variant.
If you are vaccinated, your chances of being infected are much lower than if you were not vaccinated. You should still be
thoughtful about your interactions with others indoors, especially anyone who has chosen to remain unvaccinated.
Hopefully those you live with who can be vaccinated have done so.
If you do become infected, your chances of becoming seriously ill are much less than if you were not vaccinated — but know that there is still a risk, and vaccinated islanders have become ill and experienced serious symptoms.
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From the state DOH tables, there have been 10 total hospitalizations from San Juan County, including two that came in during the past few days. This is DOUBLE the number of SJC hospitalizations in all the months leading up to July, when the Delta variant began to dominate. Can you please enlighten us about the last five, Brendan — for example, were the individuals involved vaccinated?
Thanks for the update.
What do we know about the vaccinated being infected and transmit it to others? especially since those individuals don’t have to be quarantined. What science do we know about that? And, of course, there are still those who don’t have any symptoms, but still can infect??? Unless everyone suspect is tested constantly, those will go unnoticed and perhaps be capable of forwarding the virus. The Delt V. is certainly hard to avoid, and our tactics don’t seem to be doing much good. What to do??
An additional observation: ON PBS tonight there was, finally someone interviewed who talked about good virus deterrent ventilation systems as being a long-term aid to further virus-overflows into the public. I’ve been amazed that more attention has not been focused on this aspect. 6 months, a year, two years from now we’ll be wanting to sing, rehearse, act, gather, celebrate, dance in many indoor buildings. As someone mentioned…this virus is not going away, maybe ever. But we can help it assume its place, like the flu in this country to be a periodic threat to health, and death….an not be masked and afraid.
An addendum: If those who refuse to be vaccinated (“violates our freedoms!!”…what about all the requirements/training/certificates to get the job in the first place?; dress appropriately? not do drugs? ; This isn’t about YOU (though I’ll feel sad if you’d die from Covid..(.like the beautiful therapist I had interacted with for many years)…this is about the collective; herd immunity can only be reached with enough being protected (vaccinated or having the disease without dying to build up enough antibodies). If you are truly selfish in your actions, then so be it. Otherwise, have some empathy and regard for your fellow person, your close friend, your teacher, your grandparents, your next door neighbor . IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU..
What’s next?
I was with one of the new positive cases on Orcas the day before he tested positive. Our contact was outside and lasted approximately 15 -20 minutes. He notified me of his positive test results. Being fully vaccinated I don’t have to do anything different and can just carry on unless I start having symptoms. I called Ray’s in the hopes of getting a home test kit I could use on Monday. They are sold out. I asked if they were testing people for Covid. They are testing only those need it for travel. I called the clinic and they are only testing those that have symptoms. This is why we have this surge in cases. Nobody is being treated and those vaccinated don’t have to quarantine. By the way, the person I was with who is sick currently with Covid-19 is a fully vaccinated person.
Correction to the above. I meant to say nobody is being tested not treated.
It sure would be great to see better data from SJC. Roughly one third of all cases here occurred since the end of July.
King County has a dashboard with insight into vaccine breakthroughs (https://kingcounty.gov/depts/health/covid-19/data/vaccination-outcomes.aspx). Vax rates are 90-95% in the over 60 group, and in the age group over 65, currently 30% of deaths are in vaxxed people. That helps assess risk for behaviors. If I was in that age group, participating in any group event indoors or outdoors would feel like playing Russian Roulette. Pls be safe.
The pandemic is far from over and it’s going to get worse in the near term. “… if the virus does mutate to a less lethal form, such mutations may occur over a period of many years to many decades.” See this Forbes article on the future of Covid based on an advisory created for the UK government: https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2021/08/04/a-warning-about-the-future-of-covid-19-from-the-scientific-advisory-group-for-emergencies-of-the-united-kingdom/?sh=649539df2e54 The SAGE report considers it a realistic possibility that increasingly lethal variants will arise and evade vaccines and natural immunity.
Obviously, life as usual has changed. And the sooner the majority of people can stop being irrational about this new reality, the better. Two things we can all try to empower ourselves in the face of this pessimistic outlook is to engage in less risky behaviors and work toward a stronger immune system / resilient health as much as personally possible.
I really don’t understand why testing is not easily available in the islands. From the beginning its been this way. 1.5 years later one would think accessibility would be improved.
And I don’t understand why more information is not provided about the county’s hospitalizations, for that is the best barometer of how serious our situation is — not the number of cases, some of which must be mild cases.