Jefferson County reported two more cases of COVID-19 Friday and Saturday, bringing it to five new cases since Thursday.
No new confirmed cases were reported in Clallam County on Friday and Saturday.
Both counties remained in the low-risk category.
Three new cases were reported in Jefferson County on Thursday. One new confirmed positive was reported Friday and another on Saturday.
That gives Jefferson County 86 total cases since March with 15 active cases. Health Officer Dr. Tom Locke said the county has finished investigating other cases and that there could be more new positives in Jefferson County in the next couple of days.
Locke said one recent Jefferson County case involved a hospitalization, though he believed Saturday that the person had left the hospital.
The infection rate in Jefferson County on Saturday was 21.94 per 100,000 people over the past two weeks, in the upper end of the low-risk category. Locke said that number will be recalculated Monday and that he expects it will likely go up.
Clallam County
Meanwhile, Clallam County has had 274 confirmed COVID-19 cases since March. There are 13 active cases and three current patients are in the hospital. Locke, acting as Clallam County’s health officer on Saturday, said no new cases were reported to him Saturday out of Clallam.
The infection rate in Clallam County reported Friday is 22 per 100,000, in the upper end of the low-risk category.
Undersheriff Ron Cameron handled Clallam County’s weekly update Friday as health officer Dr. Allison Unthank was on vacation.
Cameron said the county has entered a pattern in which it is consistently getting about one or two new cases a day, though four new cases were reported Wednesday.
Cameron also reiterated the message that limited trick-or-treating in small groups should be fine, but said residents won’t see the “carnival atmosphere” with huge groups of children downtown enjoyed on past Halloweens.
Growth nationally
Locke said the growth of new cases in Jefferson County (though Clallam County remains fairly quiet during the past month) reflects a trend both in the state and nationwide of a rise in new infections.
“In some parts of the country, the number of new cases is rising dramatically,” Locke said.
In fact, on Friday, 81,000 new cases were reported nationwide, according to Worldmeter.
Locke called the recent uptick a “third wave” of infections.
Locke also said the recent new cases in Jefferson County show a trend of out-of-county exposures.
“It’s people visiting other areas or people visiting here from out of the area or out of the state,” Locke said.
“It’s people visiting family members and they feel just fine. We’re seeing this pattern over and over.”
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Pierre LaBossiere can be reached at plbossiere@peninsula dailynews.com.
