It’s been three days since any tests have shown new cases of COVID-19 in Kitsap County, but local health authorities said it’s too soon to draw conclusions if the worst of the outbreak is over in Kitsap.
The critical factor?
Lack of testing for coronavirus.
The Kitsap Public Health District has been reporting daily test results since the first case of COVID-19 was discovered in Kitsap County, on Bainbridge Island on March 8.
No new confirmed cases have been found in Kitsap since Thursday, April 9.
So far, a total of 132 residents in the county have been found to be infected with COVID-19.
Of the 132 cases, 38 have been reported in Bremerton, 33 in South Kitsap, 27 in North Kitsap, 23 in Central Kitsap and 11 on Bainbridge Island. One death has been reported.
On its Facebook page Monday, the Kitsap Public Health District said: “We are pleased to have not reported any new cases of COVID-19 in Kitsap County over the past few days, but it’s too soon to know if this indicates an improving trend, especially as testing remains limited.”
“It’s crucial to continue social distancing and practicing healthy habits like hand washing to slow the spread of the virus. Now is not the time to let down our guard! #StayHomeStayHealthy,” the post said.
Tad Sooter, public information officer for the Kitsap Public Health District, noted Tuesday that other counties in Washington continue to report new positive cases of the disease.
Officials in three of the hardest hit counties — King, Snohomish and Pierce — heralded a new report released this week that suggests social distancing efforts are working to slow COVID-19 transmission in the three counties more successfully than earlier anticipated.
Individual and household efforts at physical distancing are having a positive impact, state officials said.
“We know the sacrifices and uncertainty families, businesses, schools and communities across Washington have faced. This new report confirms that working together through this crisis with unwavering commitment is slowing this serious disease,” said Dr. Kathy Lofy, Washington State Health Officer. “Our collective efforts are working, but we can’t let up our guard.”
The report, released Tuesday, was prepared by the Institute for Disease Modeling in Bellevue.
Officials said the new data provides enhanced results from previous virus transmission models reported from the institute that analyzed the overall “mobility” of people in King County, both before and after physical distancing policies were announced.
Using anonymized mobility data from the two previous reports, researchers found COVID-19 transmission measures continued to decline for the most recent report.
In the new report, it notes the measure of how many new infections a single COVID-19 infection will produce has now dropped to around one in King County, with similar trends observed in Snohomish and Pierce counties.
To build on that success, officials said Governor Jay Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order and other distancing efforts must remain in place to prevent a rebound in the number of cases and deaths.
“The social distancing steps the public has taken are having a real impact in reducing the spread of COVID-19 in our region,” said Jeff Duchin, health officer for Public Health–Seattle & King County.
“Now is not the time to relax — we need to continue with the current measures and further decrease transmission. The threat of a rebound that could overwhelm the healthcare system remains if we let up too soon,” Duchin said.
Mike Famulare, principal research scientist at the Institute for Disease Modeling, agreed.
“It’s encouraging that social distancing measures are working better than we initially estimated, but we are at a critical point in our pandemic response and must not relax current measures or we will lose hard-fought ground,” Famulare said.
