PACIFIC COUNTY — The worst wave of the pandemic to date has arrived in full force in Pacific County.

According to the county health department, 189 new cases of covid-19 were reported locally over the past week, even as a lack of widespread testing remains an issue after a company that provides covid-19 testing had to postpone the beginning of its testing operations in the county last week due to a staffing issue.

“We’re officially at the worst point in the entire pandemic,” county health director Katie Lindstrom said.

As of Jan. 9, the case rate per 100,000 people over the past 14 days in Pacific County sat at 1,312, up more than double from 601 a week earlier and already higher than the previous pandemic high of about 1,100 last winter.

A total of 2,540 cases have now been reported in the county since the pandemic began, while hospitalizations rose by three, to 131, over the past week. The county’s pandemic death toll remained steady at 40.

Pull Quote

‘When your test positivity rate gets out of whack it means, No. 1, there’s a lot of covid in the community, but it also means your testing’s just not adequate.’

Katie Lindstrom

Pacific County health director

According to a Jan. 5 update from the county health department, less than 30% of the reported cases in the county over the previous two weeks — Dec. 22 to Jan. 5 — were comprised of people who listed a peninsula address as their primary residence. An outright majority of those cases involved people who listed a Raymond address as their primary residence, with most of the rest of the reported cases involving people living in north county communities.

In north county, Raymond School District said Monday “we started the day with 24% of our students absent and ended with 27% absent. We also had 20% of our staff out today, making it hard to cover all classes and keep the school running.”

Raymond canceled Jan. 7 classes and is in the process of transitioning to remote learning, with details coming by 4 p.m. Jan. 11.

Statewide, at least 1,773 people in Washington are currently hospitalized with suspected or confirmed cases of covid-19 — up 59.7% from a week ago — and 152 patients are on ventilators — up 18.8% from a week ago.

In Pacific County, 61.3% of the total population has received at least one covid-19 vaccine dose, 54.2% have received two doses, and 22.3% had received a booster dose as of Jan. 8. For a list of upcoming local vaccine clinics, visit www.pacificcountycovid19.com/get-vaccinated.

Testing woes continueWhat’s even more alarming than the raw number of cases that have been identified in the county over the past week, Lindstrom said, is the county’s “crazy” test positivity rate; around 40-45% last week, “which means we know there are many more positives out there than what we’re catching.” The goal is to have a test positivity rate of below 10%, she said.

Lindstrom said local healthcare providers’ testing capacity is “overwhelmed,” and that way more people want tests than they have tests to give. If providers in the county were able to test everyone that needed a test, she said that the number of confirmed positive tests over the past week could have been double what it was.

“When your test positivity rate gets out of whack it means, No. 1, there’s a lot of covid in the community, but it also means your testing’s just not adequate,” Lindstrom said. “We’re doing everything we can, but we can’t test the number of people who want to be tested right now.”

The lack of widespread testing continues to persist in the county because Curative, a healthcare company that provides covid-19 testing, had to postpone the start of its testing operations in the county because of a lack of staffing. The county health department has helped promote the open position on social media, which pays $30 an hour to help staff testing sites in Long Beach and Raymond. The position, which was still listed as of Tuesday afternoon, can be found on www.indeed.com.

There were positive developments statewide and nationally last week with regards to rapid at-home testing kits, although it’s not yet known when operations will begin.

In Washington, Gov. Jay Inslee announced at a Jan. 5 news conference that the Washington State Department of Health has received 800,000 rapid at-home tests, and has orders out for 4.7 million more tests that should be arriving this month.

The state has partnered with CareEvolution and Amazon to distribute the tests, which will include the creation of a web portal that individuals and families can use to order tests directly to their home at no cost. About 3.5 of the 5.5 million tests the state has ordered will go toward this effort, and the portal is expected to open in mid-January.

Federally, national news outlets reported last week that the White House is finalizing plans with the U.S. Postal Service to deliver 500 million rapid at-home test kits to homes across the country. Once operations begin, which is expected sometime mid-January, people will be able to access a web portal to request rapid tests. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said the USPS was “proud to fulfill its mission of service” by delivering the tests.

The Observer will have more information on those respective efforts as they develop.

Lindstrom stressed that people should only get tested if they are symptomatic or are a close contact of someone who tested positive. She added that people also shouldn’t go to the ER just to get tested.

“If you’re recommended to get a test but you cannot find a test, assume you’re positive and isolate for five days or wait 24 hours until after your fever goes away — whichever is longer,” Lindstrom said. “If you’re a close contact and you can’t get a test, please just quarantine for five days and monitor yourself for symptoms.”

For more information about available testing options in the county, visit www.pacificcountycovid19.com/get-tested.