One new COVID-19 case was discovered in Clallam County on Thursday, while Jefferson County held steady with no new cases for the sixth consecutive day.
None of the three new cases in Clallam County that were confirmed Wednesday and Thursday are believed to be attributed to Labor Day weekend gatherings, said Dr. Allison Unthank, Clallam County health officer.
Both county health officers on the North Olympic Peninsula had feared that Labor Day gatherings would cause a spike in cases. That has not materialized.
The two cases found in Clallam County on Wednesday are believed to have contracted the novel coronavirus through local transmission and the case found Thursday was still under investigation, Unthank said.
Clallam County has had 230 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since March, with one death. It now has nine active cases, Clallam County Public Health data said.
The rate of new infections for Clallam County is now 20 cases per 100,000 residents for the last two weeks, which is still in the state’s low risk category, Unthank said.
Jefferson County has had 71 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since March, with five active cases and no deaths, Jefferson County Public Health data said.
The rate of new cases in Jefferson County is 3.13 for the last two weeks, which is in the state’s very low-risk category.
Both Unthank and Jefferson County Health Officer Dr. Tom Locke participated in a joint conference call with the state Department of Health and other local health officers on Wednesday afternoon.
While no final decisions were made regarding the state’s Phase 3 “Safe Start” reopening process, Unthank said a common opinion was to prioritize schools being safe for students to attend in person.
“I think around the state we want to get some kids back in school and see how that goes before we would move forward with additional reopening plans,” Unthank said.
Currently, Jefferson County school districts have opened using hybrid models of in-person and online learning while Clallam County schools are using online education only for most students.
Clallam County districts are working with Unthank to possibly reopen to some in-person schooling potentially starting Oct. 5, Unthank said.
“A lot of what we’re doing right now is walking schools through the guidance through real-time practice,” Unthank said. “All the schools have some degree of kids in class right now that are primarily kids that have higher educational needs.
“That gives us the chance to kind of practice this guidance and make sure everybody is on the same page for what counts as a COVID-19-like symptom and what do you do if you have a kid that you think is sick, how many kids can be on a bus, how far apart are your seats — all of those kind of nitty-gritty things to make sure that we are fully ready for when schools reopen.”
Unthank is optimistic that some in-person learning can begin in early October. That plan would change if the case rate in Clallam County spiked back up to above 75 cases per 100,000, she said.
“All of us want our kids in schools. The best way to do that is we keep our case numbers under control by following social distancing guidelines, wearing our masks and limiting our gatherings,” Unthank said.
“That’s going to be hard as we move into the fall, but if we really are all stringent in following the guidelines, we can get our kids in school and keep them in school.”
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Jefferson County Reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached by email at zjablonski@peninsuladailynews.com or by phone at 360-385-2335, ext. 5.
