PORT ANGELES — Clallam County’s rate of new COVID-19 cases continues trending downward as health department officials expected.
Clallam County reported a total of 15,011 cases since the pandemic began, up 145 cases from last Monday, with a case rate of 424 per 100,000 population in the past two weeks, down from 509 cases per 100,000.
“It’s kind of what we anticipated,” said Dr. Allison Berry, health officer for Clallam and Jefferson counties.
”We have been seeing cases trending downward based on last week’s numbers. We look at new cases per day and those have been trending downward, so that’s hopeful.
“It’s still high, but it’s going in the right direction. There’s still quite a lot of COVID in the community, but it’s going down, she said.
Clallam County case numbers were updated on Tuesday.
On Monday, Berry reported that Jefferson County added 70 new cases in the past week, to 5,435 total cases from 5,365, for a case rate of 457 per 100,000 population.
Regarding whether to continue wearing a mask, Berry said the important thing is when you are going to be in crowded places for a long period of time.
“When I go to conferences or on buses, I wear a mask. We have to prioritize those high-risk spaces,” she said.
Case rates are a reflection of cases reported during a two-week period. They are computed using a formula based on 100,000 population even for counties that do not have 100,000 people living in them.
