||| FROM STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH |||
Newest numbers. The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) reported a total of 450,748 confirmed cases as of 11:59 p.m. on Aug. 9. There have been 6,187 COVID-19 deaths in Washington.
For the most recent tally of cases by county, demographics, and more, visit the Department of Health’s dashboard and the state’s Washington Ready and COVID-19 Risk Assessment Dashboard.
New DOH guidance document. The new Secretary of Health’s Mask Order FAQ provides clarification for some of the settings and exemptions listed in the Secretary of Health’s Mask Order and answers other common questions. The new guidance document can be found on the COVID-19 Resources and Recommendations page.
Inslee announces vaccination requirement for most state employees, private health care and long-term care workers. Gov. Jay Inslee announced a requirement for most state workers, as well as on-site contractors and volunteers, to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. State employees and workers in private health care and long-term care settings will have until Oct. 18 to be fully vaccinated. Read the full news release here.
From the latest DoH variant report, released today, there is one identified case of the Delta variant that has been sequenced in the County, but that is for samples submitted by July 28. Another good resource is the Outbreak.info web site published by the Scripps Institute, which bypasses the cumbersome DoH bureaucracy and shows more recent results. That shows TWO sequenced cases of Delta in the County. And today there has been an explosion of covid cases on San Juan Island in the County dashboard.
Delta is here. And it’s spreading through at least the San Juan Island and Orcas Island communities. Please wear your masks indoors in public spaces!