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COME IN, HAVE A DRINK, ARE YOU FAMILY? – The La Conner Pub and Eatery has instructions, following the state's restrictions on eating out: if you are not family, you are on the patio or out of luck. The sign does not say that, but the restrictions only allow family members inside. – Photo by Ken Stern
The 42 new cases of coronavirus reported Friday-Monday in Skagit County raised to 826 the number of COVID-19 cases recorded since reporting started in February. The death toll has climbed to 21, up five in the two weeks since July 19. And on Monday seven cases were confirmed by the Swinomish Public Health Team of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, some of whom are asymptomatic, without symptoms. In response, the Tribe has opened a testing site for community members and staff. They started testing last Wednesday.
There were 264 new cases in Skagit County in July with an average of 64 cases a week from July 4-Aug 1. There were 53 cases the week ending July 4. That climbed to 80 cases the week ending Aug. 1, a 50% increase. The 900-case mark will be reached before the end of August, given the summer’s trend. That will be a doubling of cases since Skagit County achieved Phase 2 status in the state’s Safe Start economic reopening plan.
On CNN Sunday, Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said the pandemic is in a “new phase” and pointed to the transmission by asymptomatic people in both rural and urban areas as a reason the virus is “extraordinarily widespread.”
Washington’s Department of Health Friday’s daily news release was titled “COVID-19 still rising in Washington; no turnaround yet.” It reports “some counties, including Benton, Franklin, Spokane, and Grant, have seen decreases or plateaus, which hopefully reflects improved adherence to masking and physical distancing guidelines” while noting that “case numbers continue to trend upward in many counties.” Skagit County is not named.
Skagit County was not meeting three of the five key metrics on the state’s risk assessment dashboard July 29: 1. Almost 100, against 25, for new cases diagnosed in the last two weeks per 100,000 population; 2. Testing 33 people, not at least 50, for each new case; and 3. Having 3% of individuals test positive, above the 2% goal, in the past week. The County is meeting the metrics for percent of licensed hospital beds occupied and percentage of beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.
Dr. Howard Leibrand, the County’s Public Health Officer, had noted earlier that what is listed as the daily case counts may be a total of several days reported at once. The lab Skagit County uses analyzes Florida tests, creating summary reports of cases aggregated over several days.
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