Grant County health official says surge in case count not a surprise after holiday and graduation gatherings
Published 6:15 am Saturday, June 11, 2022
- Jessica Winegar, Grant County Health Department clinical supervisor, demonstrates a COVID-19 rapid test during a session of Grant Count Court in 2020. The Health Department announced 20 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, June 6, 2022.
JOHN DAY — An uptick of COVID-19 has Grant County’s top health official somewhat concerned, though she noted the county is seeing new cases at less than the statewide rate.
The county saw 20 new cases of the disease in week ending June 5 and another eight for the week ending Sunday, June 12.
Kimberly Lindsay, Grant County’s public health administrator, said that positive cases have increased by 24% in Oregon and the county is seeing cases at a slightly lower rate.
“There have been times that we were ahead of the curve and times that we have been behind,” Lindsay said. “This is a behind-the-curve time.”
Lindsay said she attributed the uptick in cases to Memorial Day weekend and graduation celebrations where people gathered.
Given this and the emergence of the new BA.2 variant and a related strain, it is not surprising to see the increase, Lindsay said. While she said she is “somewhat” concerned at the rise in numbers, the severity of cases is generally not as bad as with the Delta variant.
With that, Lindsay said, if history is the best predictor of the future, the county stands to see some hospitalizations and deaths attributed to the virus.
“For those reasons, (the spike in cases) is more concerning,” she said. “For me, one death is one too many.”
Lindsay said there is a greater prevalence of the virus circulating in the county than there was three weeks ago.
Using the Oregon Health Authority metrics that guided pandemic restrictions, Grant County is at least at medium-risk level and possibly high, given the likelihood that many people are not getting tested or are using at-home COVID-19 tests and not reporting to health officials if they test positive.
Lindsay said she encourages those with health issues that put them at a higher risk for developing a moderate to serious case of COVID-19 to take extra precautions. Those include frequent hand washing, avoiding touching the eyes and mouth, avoiding large gatherings and wearing a mask when out and about.
Finally, she said, she urges those to who have not yet received the vaccine or booster shot to do so.
