Infection rate remains low as schools start to reopen in Clallam County

One new positive COVID-19 case in Clallam, no updates for Jefferson

By Pierre LaBossiere • October 5, 2020 9:15 am

As Clallam County sees the beginning of in-person school instruction today, the county continues to see few new cases of COVID-19 and a relatively low infection rate.

While outbreaks are being reported in other parts of Washington this past week, especially at the University of Washington, Clallam County had one more positive COVID-19 case reported Sunday, the third day in a row with one new case reported.

Clallam County has had 251 COVID-19 positives reported since March and the county has 12 active cases as of Sunday.

Dr. Allison Unthank said the new positive Sunday will not have a big effect on the infection rate of 26 per 100,000 population during the past two weeks. That’s in the low end of the state’s moderate-risk category.

Low risk is 25 infections per 100,000 population or fewer.

Clallam County needs to maintain an infection rate below 75 per 100,000 over a two-week period to keep in-person classes open, Unthank said. The county has gone 32 days in a row with an infection rate below that level.

Jefferson County did not have any updates available over the weekend. The county remains at 72 cases, with just two cases reported since the end of August.

There is one active case in Jefferson County, although the listed infection rate remained at 0 per 100,000 as of Sunday.

Jefferson County schools went to limited in-person instruction in early September, and so far classes reopening have not resulted in an increase in cases.

Unthank warned in her weekly COVID-19 update Friday that the region could see an increase in cases with schools reopening to in-person instruction and with cooler temperatures pushing people indoors. She urged people to continue to be vigilant about wearing masks indoors and maintaining social distance, and to keep gatherings small and limited to immediate family members during the Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas holidays.

There will be no COVID-19 update today for the Board of Jefferson County Commissioners. The weekly update will resume at the commissioners’ Oct. 12 meeting.