Skagit County reports lower COVID-19 testing numbers

Skagit County is showing 68.1 new cases per 100,000 population for the two weeks through Sept. 6, as reported by the Washington Department of Health on its COVID-19 risk assessment dashboard. This is the lowest two-week case report since June. But that is not the big story, Skagit Public Health staff told the County Board of Health at its Sept. 3 meeting. The testing numbers two weeks after Labor Day, and whether they spike, as they have after every holiday since Mother’s Day, will be the big September coronavirus story.

By being below 75 cases per 100,000 population, Skagit County has dropped to the moderate risk category from high risk. By comparison Whatcom County is at 30.2 cases per 100,000 residents, close to the low risk category. Snohomish County has 58.5 cases per 100,000 people.

Still, on Monday the County’s 1,050th positive case was identified, up 53 in 11 days. There were 67 cases in the two weeks ending Monday.

Skagit County is bettering the metric of fewer than 2% of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 during the past week, at 1.4%. Public Health Director Jennifer Johnson reported that people in the 20-29 age group continue to become a larger portion of cases and the shift is to non-Hispanics. She is troubled by the increase in unknown transmissions, a sign that “more people (are) unwilling to disclose information to” staff, slowing the contact tracing necessary to contain the community spread of the virus.

Johnson announced, “exciting news,” that evening testing on Tuesdays and Thursdays will expand access at the Skagit Valley College test site. Starting Sept. 21, hours will be 11 a.m.-7 p.m. those days and 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The change is permanent, she said, with the site operating through Dec. 31, at least.

The County is providing a remote test site for agricultural workers at Maiben Park in Burlington on Wednesdays in September, 5-9 p.m., offering free tests, it announced on its website earlier.

Polly Dubbel, the department’s communicable disease and environmental health manager, gave a detailed summary of the support being given to all the County’s school districts, public and private, in preparation for the new school year. School systems are taking different approaches based on their sizes, physical campuses and resources. Dubbel emphasized the necessity of repeating daily activities and steps of “what we have to do every single day to get our kids back to school” and the choices parents, students and school staffs have to make.

For in person schooling “screening every student every day is needed and difficult,” including the setup and staffing for temperature checks, also mandatory for staff. The need for spacing, air flow, ventilation, hand sanitizer stations, building cleaning and bus transportations were just a few of the specifics Dubbel reviewed. The complexity and expense is a reason the La Conner School District will start its students online Sept. 14.

Dubbel emphasized “what we all need to do every day is make good choices. I repeat where I started: If we do all those things we can control the outbreak in Skagit County and get more kids back to school.”

County Public Health Officer Dr. Howard Leibrand stressed the universality of mask wearing, saying “anybody who is able to walk and talk should find a mask that they can be comfortable with. If you cannot wear a mask you should not be doing things with other people.”

Doctors in the county will not be providing mask exemptions, he said, repeating “if you cannot wear a mask you should not be in a situation where a mask is necessary.” Board Member Connie Davis spoke in support, saying masks need to be worn at work, that “that is the place not to have it (exemptions).”

After the Board of Health meeting, the Commissioners issued a proclamation “Honoring Skagit County Public Health officials for their COVID-19 pandemic work.”