PORT ANGELES — The downturn in new COVID-19 cases on the Olympic Peninsula continued Sunday with no new infections reported in either Jefferson or Clallam counties.
That’s two days in a row with no new cases in Clallam County and an entire week with no new cases in Jefferson County.
Clallam stands at 221 cases since March with 21 active cases. The infection rate was 54 per 100,000 population over the past two weeks as of Saturday, although that rate likely dropped a bit Sunday, Clallam County Health Officer Dr. Allison Unthank said.
Jefferson County has had 70 cases since March. The last positive reported in the county was Aug. 31.
There are 15 active cases in Jefferson County, which listed its most recent infection rate at 28.21 per 100,000 people.
Dr. Tom Locke, the Jefferson County health officer, said a new infection rate for the county will be calculated Tuesday.
If current trend holds with no new positives, Jefferson County could see its rate drop to 12 per 100,000 people, which would put it back in the state’s low-risk category.
Both Peninsula counties currently are in the moderate-risk category with infection rates between 25 and 75 per 100,000 people for the past two weeks.
Clallam County’s infection rate is down from a high point of 97.4 per 100,000 in mid-August. The highest Jefferson County’s infection rate got was 43.9 per 100,000 during a 14-day period in August.
“Clearly, the recent trend is downward, which is good going into school reopenings,” Locke said.
Locke said most Jefferson County schools are opening with some partial in-person learning Tuesday.
Brinnon School opened with some in-person instruction last week.
Both counties saw dramatic spikes in cases in August blamed on summer gatherings and parties, but it appears the rapid growth of new positives from those parties has ended.
Health officials have been concerned about the possibility of Labor Day Weekend parties causing another big uptick in cases.
There is no Jefferson County Commissioners’ meeting Monday with the Labor Day holiday, but commissioners will meet Tuesday with a COVID-19 update from Locke at 9:45 a.m.
That meeting can be viewed at www.tinyurl.com/jeffcomeeting.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be reached by email at [email protected]
