Respiratory diseases and COVID-19 detection both are trending downward, said Dr. Allison Berry, the health officer for Clallam and Jefferson counties.

Berry provided a public health report to the Board of Jefferson County Commissioners on Oct. 7.

“On the respiratory front, we are finally seeing a bit of good news,” Berry said. “We are finally seeing a downtrend in emergency department visits and hospitalizations for COVID-19 in our region.

“Our wastewater detection of COVID 19 is also downtrending. So that’s all hopeful news. We’re seeing an improvement from where we were in the last couple of months.”

Berry added there is an expectation that the trend will shift and surges will resume at some point during the fall and winter, but the timing is unknown.

In addition to low COVID numbers, the region and country more broadly are seeing very minimal flu activity, Berry said.

“And we are not yet in RSV season,” she said. “So, we’re in a brief moment where we’re really not seeing a lot of respiratory virus transmission, and that’s very hopeful. It’s a time where we can perhaps relax some of the measures that we’ve put in place in the last couple of months.”

Berry advised that now is a good time to update any needed vaccinations for the fall and winter. She specifically mentioned the updated COVID vaccination in addition to shots for influenza and RSV.

The RSV shot is recommended for everyone 75 and older, and everyone 65 years and older with underlying conditions, Berry said, as well as newborn babies, born going into the fall and winter, and pregnant women who will deliver in the upcoming season.

After her initial presentation, Berry went on to answer questions from the commissioners as well as questions submitted through Port Townsend radio station KPTZ.

Questions touched on topics like recommended RSV shot regularity, which vaccinations are covered by Medicare, and whether or not COVID can accurately be compared to the flu.

The RSV vaccination, which has only been around for two years, is now known to be effective for up to two years, Berry said, but whether it will be effective for longer will be the subject of study as time continues to test the vaccination.

Berry said Medicare should pay for COVID-19 vaccines, at no cost to the recipient. Influenza vaccines also are covered under Medicare.

The RSV vaccine is only covered under Medicare part D.

“If you have part D coverage, you should be covered, but if, like many people, you only have part B coverage, then you probably are not,” Berry said.

“That is a source a great deal of frustration in our world because it limits the equitable distribution of that vaccine, especially to our elders who really need it.”

In answering a KPTZ question asking if COVID is “no worse than the flu,” Berry said COVID is in fact worse and that it has a mortality rate three times higher than the flu.

“One is that COVID is variable,” Berry said. “Some people who get COVID will get incredibly sick, and some people die. Some people will feel like they had a bad cold, and we don’t know which one you’re going to be. If you happen to be someone who got a cold, that kind of sticks in your mind, but that’s not going to be true for everyone in our community.”

Also presenting was Willie Bence, director of the Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management. His presentation primed commissioners on the upcoming earthquake preparedness drill, the Great Washington Shakeout, which will occur at 10:17 a.m. Oct. 17.

Bence said community members can participate wherever they are by dropping, covering and holding on for 30 seconds at that particular time.

“You drop under a sturdy table, maybe a chair, you cover the back of your head and neck, the most sensitive parts of your body, and then you hold on until shaking stops, which in this case is just for approximately 30 seconds of the exercise,” Bence said.

“That’s to really help people build muscle memory, and to think about what you would do, if there was an earthquake at this moment in time.”

Bence advised people to have discussions with family members and co-workers about emergency plans, and to check on emergency supplies, if possible.

There will be ham radio exercises occurring between organized neighborhoods, as well as between the department and major partners.

Three tsunami sirens in Port Townsend will sound at 10:17 a.m. The department also will send out a test text alert.