PORT ANGELES – To this day (Friday), all seven people who died of COVID-19 in the Northern Olympic Peninsula – most of them women – were at least 70 years old. Most were in their 80s.
That changed with the eighth death, reported on Friday morning.
A 50-year-old man from Clallam County who contracted the virus while traveling out of the state died this week at home, said Clallam County health officer, Dr. Allison Berry, at her regular meeting on Friday.
It was the sixth death caused by the virus in County Clallam since August 16. Two have died in Jefferson County since November 25 and none in 2021.
But even with Clallam being the most vaccinated county in the state and “well within” the moderate rate category for viral infections, Berry said the man’s passing signs that residents of the Northern Olympic Peninsula should, with vigilance, continue to use masks in public and practicing security protocols.
“It is a critical reminder that COVID-19 is still very much alive and well, and circulating, especially outside our community, although we still have some here, too,” said Berry.
“It is a critical reminder of how serious this infection can be, even for younger people.”
There has been one death each month due to the virus reported in Clallam and Jefferson counties since August.
A woman in her 90s and a woman in her 80s died in Jefferson County in November and December.
Three women in their 80s, a woman in her 70s and a man in her 80s have died in Clallam County since August.
Like the man whose death was reported on Friday, most had underlying diseases or age was a factor.
Clallam County, which surpassed 1,000 cases in the last week of February since the first case was reported on March 18, 2020, had 1,011 cases on Friday, Berry said.
This is an increase from a case reported since Thursday.
Thirty percent of Clallam County residents received at least one injection of the two-dose vaccine and 18 percent were fully vaccinated, Berry said.
On Thursday, 336 Jefferson County residents contracted the virus since the first confirmed case was reported on March 6, 2020.
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Senior editor Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, extension 55650, or at [email protected].