(Up to date: including video, feedback from public well being director)
“We’re nonetheless drastically growing every week in new instances”
PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) — Within the week of Oct. 10-16, Criminal County reported 200 new COVID-19 instances and a 19.6% positive test rate, which interprets to 853 instances per 100,000 individuals.
The county has set a document in day by day COVID-19 instances 3 times in latest weeks and has been in double-digit figures for a while.
There are a lot of methods to measure and interpret the info — for instance, the Mayo Clinic does a rolling 7-day common for its interactive map of Oregon, which exhibits Criminal County averaging 22 instances per day — however attributable to its comparatively small inhabitants, that is 102 instances per 100,000 individuals, presently highest within the state, adopted by Wheeler and Harney counties.
“We’re nonetheless drastically growing every week in new instances,” says Katie Plumb, director of public well being for the Criminal County’s Well being Division.
She says the numbers ship a conflicting message and immediate a query — why are instances so excessive, when Oregon as a complete is seeing a lower?
“It is so multi-faceted,” Plumb informed NewsChannel 21 on Wednesday, when requested that query.
Plumb says comparatively low vaccination charges, masking and distancing, and the extra contagious Delta variant all play a task within the latest rise in instances.
As of now, solely 50.5% of individuals in Criminal County are vaccinated, which Plumb believes stems from low numbers in the beginning of the pandemic.
“I believe it created a way of safety,” Plumb stated. “‘You already know, ‘This is not essentially affecting us right here’, — so we had somewhat little bit of a slower uptake in vaccinations.”
Plumbs says they’ve launched cellular vaccination clinics, which journey across the neighborhood and meet individuals the place they’re at, moderately than holding mass vaccination clinics.
And though they’re doing every little thing they’ll to curb the unfold, Plumb says it is taking a toll on the neighborhood.
“We’re all drained — my workers are drained, our neighborhood is drained,” she stated.
“That is actually troublesome, when the truth is there’s nonetheless a virus that could be very a lot affecting the well being of individuals in our neighborhood.”
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