Pandemic response entering new phase as cases continue descent

Published 10:40 pm Monday, February 14, 2022

PACIFIC COUNTY — With cases of covid-19 continuing to fall from last month’s pandemic peak in both the county and state, health officials are preparing for the pandemic to enter a new, less-intensive phase.

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In Pacific County, 112 new cases of the virus were reported last week, down 30% from the week before. The case rate per 100,000 people over a two-week period was 1,303 as of Feb. 13, down from 1,894 on Feb. 6 but still above the county’s pre-Omicron high.

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‘The remaining people we’re really hoping can test at home and manage it at home. They don’t necessarily need to be on our radar, they just need to know what to do and they need to know to isolate and quarantine for the prescribed amount of time.’

County health director Katie Lindstrom

Another two hospitalizations were reported in the county over the past week, bringing the pandemic total to 152. Another death caused by covid, the 48th, was also reported in the county. The individual who passed away was in their 70s.

Statewide as of Feb. 13, 1,642 people in Washington are currently hospitalized with suspected or confirmed cases of covid-19, down 4.3% from a week ago, while 110 patients are on ventilators — down 25.7% from the previous week.

Last week was strong on the vaccination front for the county last week, as 160 more residents received their first vaccine dose and more than 300 received a booster dose. As of Feb. 12, 65.5% of the county’s total population has received at least one covid-19 vaccine dose, 57.8% have received two doses, and 28.1% have received a booster dose. For a list of upcoming local vaccine clinics, visit www.pacificcountycovid19.com/get-vaccinated.

Also last week, the county health department, in partnership with Timberland Regional Library and Shoalwater Bay Medical Clinic, announced the launch of its free rapid at-home test kit program. The program is in addition to state and federal at-home test programs, and is limited to people living or working in Pacific County.

Beginning Feb. 9, individuals can pick up one test kit per person — each kit comes with two tests — at any of the Timberland Regional Library locations in the county, including Ilwaco, Ocean Park, Naselle, South Bend and Raymond. Tests are also available to pick up at the county health department’s Long Beach and South Bend locations, and the Shoalwater Bay Medical Clinic in Tokeland.

“We recommend everyone has a home kit on hand in case they develop symptoms of covid-19 or in case they are exposed to someone who tests positive. For those testing due to exposure to covid-19, it is best to wait until [five days] after exposure to ensure the most accurate test results,” county health director Katie Lindstrom said.

Individuals who test positive on their at-home test are encouraged to report their result at www.pacificcountycovid19.com/reporthometest. More information on the testing program and other testing options in Pacific County can be found at www.pacificcountycovid19.com/at-home-testing.

The county is also expecting to receive a large shipment of free, high-quality N-95 masks as early as this week, Lindstrom said. When those arrive, she said a likely plan is for the masks to be handed out when people are picking up their at-home test kit.

New phaseWhile cases still remain high compared to where they’ve been at for the vast majority of the pandemic, their quick downward trajectory, the rising level of herd immunity, the emergence of effective therapeutics, and the growing supply of rapid at-home tests and high-quality masks have Lindstrom optimistic that the response to the pandemic is entering another phase.

“I think we’re at a point now where we have a lot more tools in place than we did initially,” Lindstrom said.

The state health department, she said, has urged local health agencies to no longer try and conduct contact tracing on every single case that is reported in their jurisdiction — a task Lindstrom said has been virtually impossible since the Omicron surge began. Instead, the county health department is being advised to focus its energy on high-risk individuals and large outbreaks.

“The remaining people we’re really hoping can test at home and manage it at home,” Lindstrom said. “They don’t necessarily need to be on our radar, they just need to know what to do and they need to know to isolate and quarantine for the prescribed amount of time. If their case does get bad, they can obviously access the healthcare system.”

The healthcare system has been bolstered by a growing, but still limited, stock of therapeutics and treatments in recent weeks that have shown to be effective against Omicron to varying degrees.

Perhaps the most encouraging has been Pfizer’s antiviral pill, Paxlovid, which was granted emergency-use authorization in December by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Clinical trials found that it reduced hospitalizations and death for high-risk people infected with covid by almost 90%, and the company said last month that several lab studies suggested the pill is effective against Omicron.

Last week, Peninsula Pharmacies’ Long Beach, Ocean Park and Raymond locations each received 20-course shipments of Paxlovid. Its Ilwaco location received a shipment at the end of January, and the South Bend Pharmacy and Willapa Harbor Hospital each received shipments as well.

Each of the five pharmacies also received 20-course shipments of molnupiravir, Merck’s antiviral pill, at the end of January. The antiviral has shown to be much less effective in preventing hospitalization and death — about 30% efficacy — but may be more effective against Omicron.

Ocean Beach Hospital also received a shipment of Sotrovimab in early January, the only of the monoclonal antibody treatments that has shown to retain some level of effectiveness against Omicron. OBH providers, Lindstrom said, are also able to prescribe antivirals to individuals who are eligible for the treatment — granted supply is available.

Focusing more narrowly on high-risk individuals, due to age or underlying health conditions, will allow the health department to get those individuals referrals for treatment and connect them with providers to prescribe antivirals.

“Between the pharmacies and Ocean Beach Hospital, I feel like we’ve really shorn up the treatment options and having those available,” Lindstrom said. “It ties in nicely with the timing of our focus shifting to higher-risk folks, because we actually have options to refer them to. Hopefully we can really just focus on preventing deaths and hospitalizations as much as possible.”

The health department and its healthcare partners are also going to continue to push vaccines, Lindstrom added, calling it by far the easier, cheaper and more efficient way of preventing serious illness than having to seek treatment. Lindstrom lauded the county’s health partners for their commitment to holding vaccine clinics week in and week out since the vaccines were first made available. Pacific County has some of the best vaccination rates among the state’s more rural counties.

State eyes lifting restrictionsAt a weekly Feb. 9 news conference, Gov. Jay Inslee announced that the state’s outdoor mask requirement for people at large gatherings would end effective Feb. 18, and suggested that the end of the state’s indoor mask mandate may not be far behind. The outdoor mask mandate has been in effect for large gatherings of 500 or more people, such as sporting events and concerts.

Inslee also announced an end to the pause of elective surgeries on Feb. 18, as covid-19 hospitalizations continue to recede from last month’s peak. Members of the Washington National Guard will also no longer be needed to assist in hospitals they had been deployed to, he said.

At his news conference, Inslee said he expects the state will be in a position sometime this week to announce a date for when the indoor mask mandate will be lifted.

Lindstrom agreed that the data wasn’t positive enough yet for the indoor mask mandate to be lifted, noting Pacific County’s case rate is still above its pre-Omicron peak, “but I also think we’re moving in that direction and we are gonna be there soon, data-wise.”

It is unclear whether mask requirements for students and staff in K-12 schools will be included in any forthcoming announcement. Last week, Washington state Schools Superintendent Chris Reykdal recommended to Inslee and the state health department to allow local health officials to make decisions about mask requirements.

Washington has had some of the strictest masking requirements in the country throughout the pandemic, with strong results to show for it. Among the 50 states, Washington has had the sixth-fewest cases per 100,000 people since the beginning of the pandemic, and the sixth-fewest deaths per 100,000 people. Washington also has the 11th-highest fully vaccinated rate in the country, at 71%.

Whenever the mask mandate is lifted, Lindstrom said it may still be prudent for high-risk individuals, and those who live with high-risk individuals, to continue to wear a quality mask in high-risk situations — such as in crowded indoor settings. With at-home tests now more widely available, guests can also test before having a get-together.

“It’s hard,” Lindstrom said, “because so many people want this to be black and white. ‘Masks either work or they don’t,’ or ‘If vaccines work then why did my neighbor get covid and they were vaccinated?’ None of this is perfect and none of it is black and white. It’s really just risk reduction.”

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