The following is a recording of the presentation during the Public Health briefings at this week’s Board of County Commissioners meeting made by Jefferson and Clallam County Public Health Officer Dr. Allison Berry. The summary below was provided by Jim Burke, producer of KPTZ’s Tuesday’s Local News.
On April 19, the levels of COVID-19 virus present in Port Townsend wastewater were 4 billion copies of the SARS-CoV-2 gene per person, per day. That data indicated an upward trend in the presence of COVID-19 in our community. Though that data was last updated on the Jefferson County Covid-19 page on April 19, Dr. Berry indicated that the Covid-19 detected by wastewater surveillance has dropped significantly. She said that there are little spikes in levels after every weekend, when there are more people visiting, but that the levels drop during the work week. When the levels rise and stay there is when we need to be more concerned.
Covid boosters are readily available at doctors offices and pharmacies. If you are over 65, or have one or more underlying health conditions, a second dose of the bi-valent booster is recommended for patients who are otherwise up to date on Covid-19 vaccinations. Patients who have had a recent case of Covid-19 should wait about two months before another booster, as the vaccine will not prompt an immune response so close to a recent infection.
