||| FROM BRENDAN COWAN for DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT |||
Since the last update on Friday December 10, there have been 16 new confirmed or probable cases in San Juan County. Current case count is now 466. While the transmission source is not known for all these cases, a number are tied to recent holiday travel or recent family/friend gatherings.
There are approximately seven unvaccinated close contacts of positive cases currently in quarantine in the islands. Three of the 16 new cases have been identified as being fully vaccinated.
- LOPEZ ISLAND: There is one new case on Lopez Island since the last update. There are no positive cases under active monitoring on Lopez Island at this time.
- ORCAS ISLAND: There are 12 new cases on Orcas Island since the last update. There are 10 positive cases under active monitoring on Orcas Island.
- SAN JUAN ISLAND: There is one new case on San Juan Island since the last update. There is one positive case under active monitoring on San Juan Island at this time.
NOTE: Two of the 16 new cases have not yet been located to a specific island.
NOTE ON HOLIDAY GATHERING AND TRAVEL: At this point it seems clear that the new Omicron variant will cause a surge in cases. While we don’t know exactly what that means for hospitalizations, and ultimately deaths, it is certainly a cause for concern.
QUICK THOUGHTS:
- Omicron is in Western WA, and likely is in the islands. This will almost certainly lead to cases moving quickly through family groups and those socializing indoors unmasked. As with previous variants, being vaccinated offers good protection against serious illness.
- Now is a good time to be more cautious about masking in the workplace, making smart decisions around socializing indoors, and being especially thoughtful about avoiding exposing those who are unvaccinated or high risk to the illness.
- Using at-home test kits to minimize risk is smart. Having people test before gathering, testing quickly when symptomatic, or following up any potential exposure with testing makes great sense. The County Health team has been giving away thousands of kits this week, and test kits may be available online or in-person at local and regional pharmacies as well.
- A rise in cases is coming, and it may be quite dramatic. However, for those who are fully vaccinated and are following the usual precautions, there is no cause for panic or fear. The vast majority of islanders are perfectly situated to weather this next round of cases extremely well.
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As a twice-vaxed (Moderna) individual, I have read multiple articles by competent doctors and virologists that suggest everyone on the planet will at some time be exposed to Covid.
Time for herd immunity to kick in, leading with young, healthy people to get over it and reduce infection transmission.
Protect the vulnerable, let the kids progress to herd immunity.
Brendan, does that mean there are 22 (10 + 12) active cases on Orcas?
Matthew, usually when he phrases it this way it means the total number is made up of active plus inactive cases – in other words, some people got diagnosed late in the game and have since cleared the infection. This would mean 12 total diagnoses since last report comprising 10 still in quarantine plus 2 now past the point of being contagious.
How and where do we get test kits from the county health team?
Kris, free PCR test kits may still be available at the Senior Center while/if supplies last. Program was scheduled to run through Friday, 12/17, but there may be some left over.
A covid-19 superspreader event in Norway occurred even though everyone was fully vaccinated and tested negative before the party:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/03/world/omicron-norway-christmas-party.html
“A spokesman for the company, Scatec, said that only vaccinated staff had been admitted to the party, and everyone had tested negative for the coronavirus before the event.”
FYI, regarding availability of COVID tests –
I saw many rapid test kits (BinaxNOW) at the Walgreens in Anacortes when I was off island last week.
The evidence from the super-spreader party event in Norway is that the covid tests are not picking up the Omicron variant. The articles don’t say whether the tests were PCR or the rapid antibody tests. But, since PCR tests are super-sensitive, it is probably the rapid tests that failed to detect people infected with Omicron.