Over the last week, COVID-19 cases have steadily increased to a high level that may push us back into Phase 2.
"This is the highest case rate we have been at since early December," said Pacific County Department of Health and Human Services Director Katie Lindstrom. "[This spike is the] second highest peak since the beginning of the pandemic. This is the second biggest surge since the pandemic began. We are extremely hopeful that this will go back down, because it starts getting unmanageable at this point. It is a lot of work for our staff, and it becomes difficult to keep up when the cases get this high."
The current case rate per 100k over 14 days is 346.6. Pacific County's case rate has been increasing over the last 14 days.
Statistics as of April 23:
- New cases over the last 14 days: 75
- Active cases monitored by public nurses: 41
- Total cases since start of pandemic: 947
- New hospitalizations over the last 7 days: 2
- Total hospitalizations since start of pandemic: 34
- Total deaths since start of pandemic: 11
In order to stay in Phase 3, Pacific County must have less than 100 new cases over 14 days or less than 3 hospitalizations over 7 days.
"We have seen a significant increase in cases over the last couple of weeks," said Lindstrom. "We are dealing with some outbreaks right now and we are worried that the number [of cases] will go up and it is possible that we could crack that 100 case threshold which would put us at risk of moving back to Phase 2."
"We are asking people to be vigilant with mask wearing and social distancing and really following the safety guidelines set forth in the Safe Reopening Plan, because it really does make a difference," she continued. "The majority of cases that we are seeing involve individuals or groups of individuals that aren't necessarily following the safety guidelines. We don't want that to put us at risk for moving back to Phase 2."
"The next reading [by the state] of our metrics is going to happen on May 3rd," Lindstrom said. "However they use the most recent complete set of data, so it is very likely that the next reading is going to be reading data from our current situation that is happening right now. We are tracking and looking at where those increases in cases are coming from. We still have cases all throughout the county, but a pretty significant majority of them are up in that Raymond and South Bend area."
For up-to-date information and guidance, please monitor the Pacific County Health and Human Services Facebook page or visit: www.pacificcountycovid19.com.