Additional COVID-19 cases have been confirmed by area health officers, with Clallam County seeing five new cases Wednesday and Jefferson County reporting two more cases with a third case likely that is still under investigation.
The infections put Jefferson County at 105 COVID-19 cases since March, while Clallam County is at 309 cases since March. Clallam County reported the first case traced to a Halloween gathering, according to Clallam County Public Health Officer Dr. Allison Unthank.
“We have five new cases, four of which are household contacts of recent cases and the other we are starting the investigation today. We have had the first case tied to a Halloween gathering, a party, and we are contact tracing that event.
“It sounds like it was a relatively large event, but we don’t have a firm cutoff or an estimate on how many attended. It sounds from the initial investigation like it was a relatively large party with young people.”
Unthank said no new cases were related to a long-term care facility that has seen two staff members and a resident test positive.
“They have contacted all the families and patients to inform them about cases,” said Unthank, who has not identified the facility.
“There are rules about it, but generally have to notify people who may have been exposed. The good thing from a contact-tracing standpoint with care facilities that it is relatively possible to track down those who have been exposed.
“And when a case is confirmed, the whole facility stops having visitors, staff members go to wearing full PPE, patients and staff are tested weekly and they continue to sanitize and clean the facility.”
Jefferson County Health Officer Dr. Tom Locke had no information on how Wednesday’s confirmed COVID-19 cases were infected, but offered information on five confirmed cases from Tuesday.
“[Tuesday’s] cases, two of them were household contacts of known cases and another a contact of a known out-of-county case,” Locke said. “The two other cases we don’t know, we can’t identify who the source case was. We see that in people who are largely staying at home and encounter someone who is shedding the virus.
“As cases go up in the county, your risk of contracting the virus goes up. Everything becomes riskier, and it becomes harder to keep the schools open.”
Locke said public health staffers likely would put together a report on recent cases in Jefferson County this week.
“I think there is a lot of interest in this, so we will try and put together the cases for the last two weeks,” Locke said. “The week that ended last Saturday, we had eight cases, and we already have eight cases since Saturday.
“We will try and summarize in-county versus out-of-county transmission, and we are dealing with an outbreak in a social group in mid-county, just about finished that investigation and the public is curious and they want to know.”
Locke and Unthank also discussed the return of college students to the Olympic Peninsula for Thanksgiving or winter breaks in light of situations such as that at Notre Dame. After students stormed the field in the wake of Notre Dame’s college football upset of top-ranked Clemson last Saturday, the Indiana university is requiring all students to be tested before leaving for home.
“That’s a fair question. We know being in a college setting poses a risk,” Unthank said when asked if college students should be tested before returning home.
“The biggest challenge is the return trip, and the risk varies depending on where you are coming from,” she said. “Testing makes more sense if you are on the east side of the state and you can drive home, but if they are flying in from out of state the highest-risk exposure is on the plane.”
Unthank said students should attempt to pre-quarantine before they leave their college homes and make sure to wear masks, sanitize and practice physical distancing on the trip. Once home, sleeping in separate rooms and avoiding large family gatherings is advised.
“Consider a couple of different tables for a Thanksgiving meal,” Unthank said. “The kiddie table could come back this year.”
Locke said he thinks college students should get tested before coming home, but advises against coming home for the holidays in the first place.
“Testing won’t pick up all the cases, but it will pick up some,” Locke said. “But people that want to have that traditional Thanksgiving dinner with the extended family all sitting at the table close to each other, and it’s not a safe thing to do.”
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-406-0674 or mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
