Vashon is now facing a surge in cases of COVID-19 that local experts hope can be contained with contact tracing, community cooperation and renewed precautions by islanders.

Last week, Vashon’s case rate was 57 cases/week/100K population and King County’s was 62 cases/week/100K — numbers not seen since early January. The total Vashon cases since the pandemic began held at 121 all through June, but have now jumped to 132.

Vashon’s most recent COVID exposure event, involving a fully vaccinated employee of Fair Isle animal clinic who tested positive for COVID-19, is now contained, VashonBePrepared has announced in an email to islanders.

Last week, islanders were alerted to the situation in several ways, after Vashon’s Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) advised the veterinary clinic on safety measures to protect public health.

Fair Isle sent an email detailing the situation to all its clients, and clinic staff members also made phone calls to all clients who had appointments at the clinic on the days the infected employee worked there prior to the diagnosis. In addition, VashonBePrepared sent a COVID update email to islanders, also advising those who might have been exposed.

Response to the public notice was strong, with more than 40 calls to Vashon’s MRC hotline on the first day. The entire staff of the clinic was tested by the MRC, and, except for the original patient, all tested negative. MRC volunteers also set up an emergency testing operation outside Vashon Pharmacy, where more than 50 clinic clients were tested, with all results, so far, coming back negative.

Fair Isle has now reverted to curbside service, among other safety measures, until further notice.

Dana Ness, the owner of the clinic, said that she was deeply grateful to the MRC for its leadership and expertise in addressing the situation. She said a colleague at another clinic, not located on Vashon, had recently experienced a similar incident but had not had the expertise of a local group like Vashon’s MRC to rely upon.

“Vashon is so fortunate,” she said, also expressing gratitude to her clients for their support of her and cooperation with the MRC.

With the Fair Isle event contained, the MRC is now strongly urging all islanders, whether vaccinated or not, to renew many basic precautions against COVID-19.

The MRC said that the Delta variant has arrived on Vashon, as it has everywhere else in Washington state and the nation. MRC experts report that the character of the new infections has changed — with a number of infections occurring in vaccinated individuals.

Delta is a game-changer in the long battle against COVID-19.

Last week, the CDC warned that that the Delta variant appears to spread as easily as chickenpox. In addition, the CDC warned that vaccinated people infected with the Delta strain carried high viral loads of COVID-19, making it possible for them to spread the disease.

The CDC study centered on an outbreak in Provincetown, Massachusetts, researching 469 cases of COVID-19 connected to summer events and large public gatherings. Of the cases, 346 occurred in fully vaccinated people. According to the CDC, most carried the Delta strain.

For these reasons, the CDC as well as Public Health — Seattle & King County, have now renewed recommendations that everyone in King County, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, should wear masks indoors, in public locations.

Dr. Zach Miller, a pediatric infectious disease specialist who is a member of the five-member COVID Physician Task Force of the MRC, said that the MRC strongly supports the mask recommendation.

The COVID Physician Task Force, he said, has developed the following key messages for islanders at this time:

• Get vaccinated.
• Delta is here — the majority of cases in King County are now the Delta variant.
• Wear a mask in all indoor public spaces.
• If you have even minor symptoms, you should get tested right away.

CDC and King County guidelines for vaccinated individuals changed this week. Both now recommend that vaccinated individuals exposed to someone testing positive for COVID should quarantine and be tested, as it appears that vaccinated individuals are capable of transmitting infection.

If you have been exposed to a person with COVID or if you have a positive test for COVID, call the MRC at 844-469-4554 for advice regarding testing and quarantine precautions.

While Miller acknowledged that it was disappointing to have to step backward after the broad lifting of most restrictions in late June, he said it is important for all to resume precautions now for the good of public health for all in the community.

He urged islanders to think of the current situation not so much in terms of rules and mandates, but rather, to approach decisions with knowledge and caution in light of the new information detailing how vaccinated people can spread the virus to those who are unvaccinated, including children, and also to those who are immunocompromised.

“This is about using as much caution as you can, based on your risk tolerance and your interest in preventing transmission in the community,” he said, “This is about your friends and neighbors.”

On Sunday, The Washington Post reported that experts are forecasting that cases will continue to rise, for the time being, throughout the United States. At the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, modelers predict that the current rise in cases will continue through mid-August when they will reach 300,000 cases daily. A corresponding number of deaths, they said, would rise to a high of 1,500 daily in September.

Masking could greatly mitigate the numbers, the modelers said, making the caseload about 10 times smaller.

In other news about the pandemic, it has also been announced that statewide, all students in K-12 public education will be mandated to wear masks as school resumes in the fall.

Last week, Chris Reykel, of Washington’s Office Superintendent of Public Instruction, sent a strongly worded letter to Washington School districts, stating unequivocally that the public health mandate was not at the discretion of local boards or superintendents. Districts that did not adhere to these public health measures, including universal masking, would lose their state and federal funding that came through the OSPI’s office, Reykel said.