Covid-19 update

According to the Washington Department of Health, the number of covid-19 cases reported in Wahkiakum County rose by five in the last week for a total of 567.

Disclaimer: With the easy accessibility of at home tests, the actual number of active covid-19 cases and actual cumulative numbers in the county, are hard to know.

“Cases are surging in the state again,” Wahkiakum Health and Human Services Director Chris Bischoff said. “Go outside and keep your distance. Hopefully with the higher temperatures, people will be spending more time outside and can just keep a little distance (six feet) from each other.”

WHHS has stopped reporting case numbers directly on their website.

“The main reasons for this are that we are no longer getting notified about new cases and since the [Washington] Department of Health reports positives differently, their number is significantly different than ours,” Bischoff said. “For those who have been checking our website, there is a link to the DOH webpage where they report all of their data.

"Individuals viewing the site will need to check the Wahkiakum box in the window on the left side of the table. There is a ton of information on that page, and we would encourage people to become familiar with it. Anyone who has questions can contact WHHS.”

The number of reported hospitalizations attributed to covid-19 in the county stands at 36 and the number of deaths is seven.

Washington DOH reports that 68.5 percent of the population of the state has completed the primary series of vaccinations. Only 50.9 percent of the total population of Wahkiakum County has completed the primary series.

The Pfizer vaccine, including a second booster, is available for anyone six months and older at the WHHS vaccine clinic on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30-3 p.m. Call 360-849-4041 for more information.

The Moderna vaccine, including a second booster, is available at the Cathlamet Pharmacy. Call 360-795-3691.

“Anyone who has not yet been vaccinated is encouraged to do so,” Bischoff said.

Monkeypox is spreading

Nineteen cases of monkeypox have been reported in Washington according to the Centers for Disease Control.

“Federal and state health organizations still list this as a low priority for public health,” Bischoff said. “The good news is that there is already vaccine that is affective against monkeypox. The federal government has a significant amount of this vaccine held as part of its strategic stockpile. They’ve released some of that out to states to curb the spread. There is not enough vaccine available to make this freely available, and it