La Conner Weekly News - Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper

Reports of COVID-19 cases in Skagit County from Skagit Public Health continues to be alarming. Coronavirus infections for 2020 rose above 2,000 Monday, when 28 more people tested positive. In November, 758 cases were reported to the Washington Department of Health. Thirty-six people were hospitalized last month, 34% of all hospitalizations this year. There were three deaths, bringing to 27 the number of Skagit residents killed by the virus.

In the past two weeks 337.5 new cases per 100,000 residents were diagnosed, a six-times increase from Nov. 1.

Cases in the county are “going straight up,” Dr. Howard Leibrand, Skagit County Public Health Officer told the Weekly News Tuesday. He tracked the climb from early September two week case reports of 30 rising to 100 in October and now spiking over 300.

Leibrand said new infections are “across the board” in all demographics. There are clusters of infections from people gathering, within families or two households socializing. There are fewer cases from businesses than he expected and those are primarily employee-to-employee, “in the back room,” and not out front with customers.

While Skagit hospitals have close to 80% of beds occupied, with 9% with COVID-19 patients, area hospitals have capacity and are readily treating new admissions, Leibrand said. Still, “the current case situation is proving that Dec. 14 is too soon to undo any of those guidelines” from Gov. Jay Inslee and the Washington Department of Health, he said, that the time period from mid-November was too short. He anticipates infections surging from the Thanksgiving holiday and that the end of year holidays will again bring huge increases in virus cases.

Law enforcement is being called on for enforcement, he noted. “That will certainly increase when people are flagrantly violating common sense,” he said, with civil tickets being issued for civil infractions.

He complimented Mayor Ramon Hayes for his promoting public health safety and his strong position on enforcement in a call with county mayors last month.

A majority of people wearing masks will not halt the spread, he said “It takes more than a majority, it takes everybody.”

Everyone needs to stay home. If no one associates with one another, that will stop the spread, he said. The virus is new but the measures to stop any infection are “not new concepts. Mom taught us how to wash our hands” and cover coughing.