Pacific County experienced a rash of new COVID-19 cases late Friday, 28, and reported another four Tuesday morning, bringing the case number in the county to 159.
Monday, Willapa Harbor Hospital announced the Willapa Medical Clinic is closed until further notice because of COVID-19 activity.
“The Willapa Medical Clinic “will reopen when we can be confident that it is safe for our patients to return,” read an announcement Monday on the Willapa Harbor Hospital website. “Also, out of an abundance of caution, we are not allowing visitors to enter our hospital facility.”
Hospital staff was in the process Monday of contacting patients seen at the clinic in the past seven to 10 days.
“If you visited Willapa Medical Clinic within the previous 7-10 days, per the CDC guidelines, your exposure risk is low,” because of the safety precautions in place at the clinic, according to the statement. “This being said, we encourage any who are interested in testing, or who have symptoms, to be tested.”
Of the 28 cases reported Friday, “A significant number of positive cases have resulted from a congregate work facility,” according to public health, which was not identified. The health department said it is working with the facility to make sure testing is being done and that there is compliance with required safety practices.
Most of the 28 cases reported Friday were linked to other positive cases within their households or to workplace exposure. Two were linked to holiday parties, two to “social interaction,” three to out of county travel, and another linked to an out of county visitor, according to public health.
Ten cases involved people age 20 and younger, eight male, two female. There was one female in the age 20-30 category; six in the 30-40-year-old range — five females and one male; three males and two females in the 40-50-year-old range; two females and a male in the 50-60 age range; one 60-70-year-old female; and a male and female in the 70-80-year-old range.
Of the four cases reported Tuesday morning, two, a male 30-40 years old and a female 50-60 years old, were linked to a workplace. A female between 70-80 years old was linked to out of county travel, and a 60-70-year-old male was linked to a medical screening. All were isolating at home, according to public health.
There are currently 42 active cases being monitored by public health nurses; 34 cases are confirmed and eight cases are probable. Case investigations and contact tracing are on-going.
The rate of new cases for the prior two weeks per 100,000 population, which had dropped to less than 25 just last week, rose to 180.2 as of Tuesday. The 7-day average for positive tests compared to tests given rose to 28%; the total positive results out of the 3,635 test administered during the pandemic stand at 4.4%.
