PORT ANGELES – Clallam County continues to hold steady for COVID-19 cases.
Still no more positive test results as of Friday. It’s been nine days since the last positive test result in Clallam County.
Currently there are 14 positive results, 11 have recovered. 1,028 people have been tested and they’re waiting on 37 test results.
County public health officer Dr. Allison Berry Unthank says the COVID-19 rate locally is 1.4 percent.
“Which is great. It’s continued to be quite low and so we think we are really doing quite well as a county as far as COVID-19 is concerned.”
As the numbers hold steady, the emergency response is also pulling back. Starting next week, Clallam County Undersheriff Ron Cameron says they’ll scale back operations at the Emergency Operations Center from full time to three days a week.
“Starting Monday, the EOC is going to drop back to three days a week of activation. We will still man the message center every day of the week. But having a full activation is not needed at this point. Obviously will cycle back up if we have to if it gets busy again.”
The volunteer station where people were dropping of masks and gowns they had made set up at the Vern Burton Center will also be shutting down. Next Wednesday may be the last day.
However, Unthank says there is still a struggle to get enough personal protective equipment. She says there is a bidding war
“What’s happening is every hospital, every city, every county, every state are vying against each other for the same limited resources to try to get them and it’s really ‘whoever has the highest buying power is winning’. And so it’s really hurting small rural areas like us, you know, if you see Olympic Medical Center going up against the Boston Hospital Association,Olympic Medical Center is going to lose and so that’s become a big challenge in trying to get personal protective equipment particularly in the rural areas.”
Unthank says as the numbers go down, people are getting antsy to get back to work. She urged a little more patience saying she believes many may be going back to work quite soon, under guidelines that ensure safety at work.