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 Casey Dolan, contributor to KPTZ’s Local News.

Dr. Berry talked of two things: the first was to give a Covid-19 update; the second was to talk about the rise in opioid use, primarily fentanyl. Regarding Covid-19, the picture continues to look better with hospital admissions continuing to downtrend. Admissions are predominantly patients over 70 with underlying conditions. There have been two hospital admissions in the last month. There are no new deaths, which means the total is staying at 39. There is also no increase in the variants like xbb 1.5; but the CDC is likely to recommend a booster in the Fall. If you are 65 or older and have underlying conditions and have NOT had a second booster, they recommend getting one soon. If you are over 65 with NO underlying conditions, you can wait longer.

The local opioid overdose crisis began with prescription opioids such as Oxycontin and Percocet, but there was a rise in heroin use in 2015-16. At some point, maybe 2020-21, Fentanyl started to replace that because of the increase of effect; and that caused a doubling in the rate of overdoses. Fentanyl also has a short-term effect, meaning that addicts have to use more frequently, which increases the risk of death. There is a popular misconception that narcotic users are addicts to getting high, but actually they take the drugs to fight the effects of withdrawal. 70% of users want to quit, but there’s a big gap with treatment. Harm reduction seeks to reduce the harms of a given disease, even before you cure it. “I don’t want you to die. I’m going to take care of you.” Berry said that addicts are three times as likely to get sober in a harm-reduction program than if they are not. There are many barriers to service, however. People who live outside with no ID may become frustrated. But “we help them navigate that stigma in the system.” Narcan and Naloxone are part of that harm reduction, while they wait for EMS to arrive, which, in a rural community can sometimes take time. Naloxone, a nasal spray, is easy to use and available from the Health Department.

Naloxone will be distributed, perhaps in mail boxes around town – like outside of fire stations – as well as safe syringes and safer smoking supplies. Reusing smoking supplies gives rise to Hepatitis C. Addicts are less likely to overdose with smoking than injection. She encouraged checkups on people on the street who may not be moving and to spray in their nostrils if they seem like overdoses. It’s a safe thing to give to the general population.

Submit your Public Health questions to Dr. Allison Berry and to Willie Bence by emailing [email protected]. Note: The weekly deadline for these to be submitted is on Fridays at noon, to be answered at the following Monday’s BOCC meeting.