PACIFIC COUNTY — Cases of covid-19 remained well above pre-Omicron records in Pacific County, although a notable drop from the previous week has local health officials hoping that the county is on the other side of the peak.

Last week saw another 223 covid cases reported in the county, bringing the total number of cases to 3,384 since the pandemic began as of Monday. While still a towering figure, the new cases that were reported from Jan. 25-31 are down 31.4% from the 325 that were reported in the county from Jan. 18-24.

The case rate in the county has also begun to subside. The case rate per 100,000 people over a two-week period stood at 2,532 as of Jan. 30, down slightly from 2,874 the week before and down from the recent peak of 3,114 on Jan. 25.

“I think we may have peaked last week,” county health director Katie Lindstrom said, “and maybe we’re on that downhill [trajectory]” that has taken place in other places that were first hit by Omicron. “It’s what the modeling suggested and it’s what our very brief look at the data is saying … I think you could cautiously say that we’re diving down a little.”

Pull Quote

‘I think we may have peaked last week and maybe we’re on that downhill [trajectory].’

Katie Lindstrom

County health director

The past week also saw six additional people hospitalized by covid-19, bringing the total to 147. A 44th Pacific County resident also died due to complications from covid-19. The person who passed away was in their 70s.

Statewide as of Jan. 30, 2,064 people in Washington are currently hospitalized with suspected or confirmed cases of covid-19, down 8.1% from a week ago, while 174 patients are on ventilators, down 7.9% from a week ago.

The county’s testing outlook has brightened for the next couple of weeks, after the health department announced Curative, the healthcare company that pulled out of offering more permanent testing services, would be conducting testing in the county both this and next week.

To register for an appointment at Curative’s Long Beach location at the county offices on Sandridge Road, visit curative.com/sites/34594. To register for testing in north county, located at the South Bend Fire Department parking lot, visit curative.com/sites/34595.

The Family Health Center in Klipsan Beach is also giving away free rapid at-home tests this week at its clinic located at 21610 Pacific Way. Tests are able to be picked up any time from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Cases, vaccination gulf

Since the pandemic began nearly two years ago, the amount of cases being reported on the peninsula continue to be far less than the number of cases reported in the rest of Pacific County.

As of Jan. 26, just 31.9% of all covid-19 cases in the county where the zip code of a positive individual’s primary residence is known are of people living on the peninsula, and 68.1% are of people residing elsewhere in the county. That number has not budged even an inch during the current wave of cases the county is witnessing. Since Dec. 1 of last year, around the time when Omicron was first detected in Washington, the difference in the percentage of cases between the peninsula and the rest of the county is exactly the same, down to the percentage point.

While several factors may be at play as to why there is such a stark difference between the peninsula and the rest of the county, Lindstrom said the sizable disparity in the vaccination rate is a major reason why.

In the four census tracts that make up the peninsula, accounting for about 47% of the county’s total population, the rate of people who are fully vaccinated is 69.5% — on par with the statewide vaccination rate. In the three census tracts that comprise the rest of the county, the fully vaccinated rate is just 44.3%.

Other potential factors for the large gap in cases includes a peninsula population that is more cautious and taking the pandemic more seriously — as the vaccination data gives credence to — along with a population that is older than the rest of the county. In Pacific County, 79.7% of people 65 and older are fully vaccinated, compared to 57.5% of those 50-64, 53.6% of those 35-49, 47.9% of those 18-34, 33.9% of those 12-17, and 9.8% of those 5-11.

“It’s definitely vaccination, but it’s also mask-wearing and social distancing,” Lindstrom said.

In all, 63.8% of the county’s total population has received at least one covid-19 vaccine dose, 56% have received two doses, and 25.1% have received a booster dose as of Jan. 29. For a list of upcoming local vaccine clinics, visit www.pacificcountycovid19.com/get-vaccinated.