As Omicron ends, pandemic response to ease up

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Editor’s note: Read COVID updates by VashonBePrepared in Spanish and English at tinyurl.com/yan39zeh.

Vashon Nears the End of the Omicron Spike

As this week’s statistics section shows, the island’s Omicron spike continues to wind down. The weekly new case count has fallen each week for more than a month and has now dropped into the single digits. New cases still show up, and there’s the possibility of a resurgence of COVID in our community, but for now, the worst appears to be over on Vashon for Omicron.

Incident Commander Reduces Activation Level

Charlie Krimmert, VIFR Fire Chief and the Incident Commander for Vashon’s COVID pandemic response, has reduced our activation level to “enhanced monitoring status.” The pandemic response activation that began two years ago on March 12, 2020, continues, but at a less intense level.

“We know that Covid-19 runs in cycles, so this lull will give our volunteers some rest. We must take this opportunity so we can be ready if there’s another COVID spike,” Chief Krimmert said. “Our VashonBePrepared volunteers will be essential to our community if we face a new spike or some other emergency such as severe weather or an earthquake.”

Chief Krimmert pointed out that this is not a total stand-down.

• The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Situation Section will continue to track COVID statistics and developments and will keep the response team up to date.

• The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) will continue to partner with Vashon Pharmacy, but the Pharmacy will carry out the main testing and vaccination work without volunteer assistance. MRC volunteers will offer medical expertise and stand by to return to action if more help is needed.

• The MRC will keep the helpline open at (844) 469-4554 to offer community COVID advice. Call levels will provide early warning if community disease levels increase.

• VashonBePrepared’s newsletter will continue providing safety information but may be able to reduce its weekly publishing schedule as the emergency continues to subside. The newsletter will ultimately transition to communicating community safety and preparedness information for all types of hazards, including traditional VashonBePrepared topics such as tips for home readiness for earthquakes and bad weather. COVID-19 will also be covered as needed.

“The most important thing is being ready,” Chief Krimmert said. “Last June, it looked like it was over. Then came Delta and we had to scramble to respond. And then came Omicron. We know from experience that we must be ready for whatever comes next. It’s an honor to be a part of this incredible community-wide effort by hundreds of volunteers who have worked so hard to help keep Vashon safe.”

Update: COVID Home Testing

Much has changed with testing for COVID over the last two years. Today, everyone can get a home rapid test, and the more reliable PCR tests are widely available as well.

Some recent developments have made it easy to get no-cost rapid antigen tests for home use.

• Vashon Pharmacy has plenty of rapid tests for home use available and has set up a process that makes reimbursement easy for those who have insurance. For most tests, the Pharmacy will file the insurance paperwork for you, with no out-of-pocket cost required. For some providers, you will need to do your own reimbursement filing. For the latter, the Pharmacy can provide you with pre-filled paperwork if you complete the online form at this link: bit.ly/VashonPharmacyRapidTests.

• The federal COVID test program announced you can get four more free test kits, even if you received the original four. Go to this link to order, and the kits will be sent to you through the mail: special.usps.com/testkites.

• In addition, you can get up to two orders per month of five tests per household while supplies are available from the state’s Say Yes! COVID Test campaign. Go to this link to make your request: sayyescovidhometest.org.

The advice for testing has not changed. If you may have been exposed or have symptoms, get tested or self-test. If you test positive, isolate yourself so you don’t spread the disease to others. That means staying home, not going to work or school or shopping. You can call the MRC helpline for advice on how to manage isolation, even if you are living in a family household setting. The MRC helpline number is (844) 469-4554.

Tips for Handling the Masking Conversation

Now that the mask mandates are ending for many situations, you are likely to be faced with a decision: Wear a mask, or not? This will depend on where you’re going and who you’ll be with. And what will you do or say if someone else makes a different choice?

Community Care Team (CCT) experts Jinna Risdal and Wren Hudgins have provided some tools for dealing with that social situation. Be sure to read their commentary, “COVID: Navigating the Next Phase” on page 6 of this edition of The Beachcomber. The CCT is a unit of Vashon’s Medical Reserve Corps.

Latest Vashon COVID Statistics

Source: Public Health — Seattle & King County (PHSKC) and Vashon EOC. PHSKC adjusts statistics from time to time as data is refined during its quality control processes. These statistics may not include all recent Vashon cases, due to the lag in posting of data to PHSKC. Some home testing data may also be missing because there is no comprehensive system to collect it. Hospitalizations may include some patients who tested positive for COVID on admission for other reasons.

772 = Total COVID cases for Vashon residents since the pandemic began.

2 = New cases reported since the last weekly report (8 new cases in 14 days)

12 = Patients hospitalized since the pandemic began.

4 = Deaths since the pandemic began.

92.6% = percentage of Vashon residents age 5+ who have been fully vaccinated, compared to 84.5% of the total King County 5+ population.

71.8% = percentage of vaccinated Vashon residents age 12+ with booster shots.

62.7% = percentage of Vashon residents aged 5 to 11 with first doses of vaccine (59.0% have completed the series).

81.8% = percentage of Vashon residents aged 12 to 17 with first doses of vaccine (76.5% have completed the series).

For King County, the PHSKC dashboard for the last 30 days says people who are not fully vaccinated are 2.4 times more likely to get COVID, 12 times more likely to be hospitalized for COVID, 24 times more likely to die of COVID.

For more resources, visit VashonBePrepared.org. Sign up at tinyurl.com/4smk364m to receive email updates from the group, and/or visit VashonBePrepared on Facebook.