Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Mason County recorded 124 in the past week, a decrease of 11 cases from the previous week.
The county recorded two more deaths, bringing the total in Mason County to 55. As of Tuesday, there are six people hospitalized in Mason County and one hospitalized outside of Mason County. Director of Community Services Dave Windom said at Tuesday’s Mason County Board of Health meeting that the hospital has more available beds now then they have had in the past couple of weeks.
The county has had 259 cases in the last two weeks and a rate per 100,000 of 399.
Windom provided a report on the county’s COVID situation during Tuesday’s meeting, stating the COVID response continues to be the largest priority. The county has shifted most of the case investigation and contact tracing to the state and with the rise in cases in August, it exceeded the capacity for the county to respond.
Mason County has been working with schools regarding COVID and is forming a specific team to address the work so regular staff can return to their normal duties.
Windom’s report states the county has reserved a motel room for an occasional situation where a person who cannot quarantine or isolate at home can have a place to do so. The county is also having trouble getting services available to someone quarantining at home or at a motel room, and the county is contracting with United Way to help with some of that relief.
According to a graph provided by Windom, the county is experiencing one of the two biggest waves of COVID and the most hospitalizations since the beginning of the pandemic.
Windom also provided a vaccination percentages among age groups graph throughout the state, with 65+ having the highest vaccination rate at 80.7%. It declines with age groups, with a 70% vaccination rate among ages 50-64, a 67.3% vaccination rate among ages 35-49, a 57.2% vaccination rate among ages 18-34 and a 50.6% vaccination rate among ages 16-17.
The county data also shows how being vaccinated can help prevent serious illness and hospitalization. A graph shows that for people in the state ages 45 to 64, vaccinated people are about 10 per 100,000 14-day hospital admission rate while unvaccinated are about 50 per 100,000 14-day hospital admission rate.
“More than 90% of our cases in the hospital and I think he (Dr. Jean Gushee) said all of our deaths recently have been unvaccinated,” Windom said. “We’re definitely seeing a protection factor from the vaccine as far as not going to the hospital and avoiding death.”
Gov. Jay Inslee announced an extension of the statewide eviction bridge until Oct. 31, saying the extension was to make sure local governments have time to issue rental relief and to help ensure no one is evicted. The bridge was set to expire on Sept. 30.
“We’re hearing that counties need a little more time to effectuate the rental relief that is available today to citizens,” Inslee said at a press conference last Thursday to announce the extension. “We have good reason to believe that counties will be able to move more quickly now in part because the U.S. Treasury has changed some of their rules, it’s much easier to distribute the money to citizens. We’re moving toward the permanent solution that came about through the work with the legislature in the last session. I deliberately moved this process through the legislature to provide a long-term solution and I’m extending the bridge to make sure that solution gets in place.”
Inslee noted during the press conference that the economy is improving and unemployment is down and the state is “at the point where this makes sense.”
Anyone seeking help paying rent is asked to visit atg.wa.gov/landlord-tenant.
“We still remain deeply concerned about the pandemic,” Inslee said. “The number of cases, of hospitalizations and deaths are grossly unacceptable in the state of Washington.”
Inslee said the state recently passed 7,000 Washingtonian deaths from COVID.
“Every one of these heartbreaking cases is something that tugs at us, particularly now, because almost all of them are preventable deaths,” Inslee said. “We now have a vaccine that can prevent these deaths.”
Reader Comments(0)