PACIFIC COUNTY — It took 14 months from when the pandemic started for Pacific County to reach 1,000 cases of covid-19. It took less than six months for the county to add 1,000 more.

The county surpassed 2,000 confirmed cases of covid-19 on Oct. 21, according to county health director Katie Lindstrom. The county crossed 1,000 coronavirus cases this spring, on May 11.

From the day that the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, on March 11, 2020, it took 427 days for Pacific County to record its first 1,000 cases. It took just 164 days for the county to record 1,000 more cases, even as a trio of free, accessible and effective vaccines were available to all adults for the duration of those 164 days.

With a population of nearly 24,000 people as of the 2020 Census, almost 10% of the county population has a confirmed case of covid-19. While some individuals have tested positive for the virus multiple times throughout the pandemic, Lindstrom said it’s likely that many positive cases in the county have gone unreported — either because people who were symptomatic declined to get tested, or because asymptomatic cases went undetected.

Three of the months with the most coronavirus cases in the county were during the recent wave of infections that coincided with the rise of the Delta variant in the U.S. The county health department reported 330 cases in August, 344 cases in September and 167 cases in October (through Oct. 25). The only other month during the pandemic in which more than 150 cases have been reported in the county was last November, when there were 336.

As of Oct. 25, a total of 2,021 cases have been reported in the county since the pandemic began. Cases continue to decline locally, with the rate per 100,000 people over a two-week period falling to 332 as of Monday — down from 406 a week ago and 531 two weeks ago. It’s the lowest the case rate has been in Pacific County in more than three months, when the Delta variant was starting to become prominent in the country.

Four more hospitalizations have been reported in the past week, increasing the county’s total to 113, while the death toll remained unchanged at 32.

Vaccine mandate aftermath

Both the Ocean Beach School District and Ocean Beach Hospital largely came away unscathed following last week’s vaccine mandate deadline for healthcare workers, school staff and most state employees in Washington.

Amy Huntley, OBSD superintendent, confirmed to the Observer that 89% of the district’s staff is fully vaccinated. The 11% who are not vaccinated requested, and received, religious exemptions.

“We did not have to let go any staff due to the vaccine mandate,” Huntley said.

At OBH, CEO Larry Cohen told the Observer that of its 177 employees, 168 are or will be fully vaccinated before they work at the hospital or its medical clinics after Oct. 18 — a vaccination rate of 94.9%. Of the nine who aren’t fully vaccinated, eight requested and received either a medical or religious exemption. One on-call employee was terminated, Cohen said.

Among all state employees affected by the mandate, 95.2% were either fully vaccinated or granted a medical or religious exemption. Among the 96 Naselle Youth Camp employees, 84 were fully vaccinated by the deadline or received an exemption. The vaccination and exemption rate was 93.1% for Washington State Patrol staff, 91% for Washington State Parks staff, 95.6% for state Fish & Wildlife staff, and 94.1% for state Department of Transportation staff.