Submitted by San Juan County.

Note: Current positive case numbers are available online at the County Case Data Dashboard, sanjuanco.com/1682/COVID-19-SJC-Data-Dashboard. As indicated on that page, these numbers are only updated after case confirmation is complete, usually daily. It is possible that other information sources in community may be quicker to report on new cases, but ensuring privacy and accuracy is critical for this official information source.

Since the last update on Friday, March 19, total cases in San Juan County have increased from 129 to 131.

Note that there are nine close contacts of positive cases currently in active quarantine.

Orcas Island

There are no new cases on Orcas Island since the last update. There are no confirmed positive cases under active monitoring on Orcas Island at this time.

Lopez Island

There is one new case on Lopez Island. The transmission source is unknown. There is one positive case under active monitoring on Lopez Island at this time.

San Juan Island

There is one new case on San Juan Island. The transmission source is unknown. There is one positive case under active monitoring on San Juan Island at this time.

Overall picture

There are signs of an uptick in case numbers for some counties in Washington, and there are clear increases happening in other states (Michigan being the most concerning example). While we’re probably one or two weeks away from knowing for sure, it appears that we’re about to enter another period of rising cases. How big that rise is and how long it lasts are important but unanswered questions.

The good news is that a large percentage of our highest-risk individuals have received their first dose of vaccine (70% of 65-plus residents in the state of Washington). This will drastically decrease the mortality rate and should decrease hospitalizations. Relieving the pressure on our medical infrastructure is essential.

While many of us are relaxing our precautions to some degree, now is not the time to act like this is over. Wearing our masks, being thoughtful about travel and socializing indoors — these things are as vital as ever. And when you’re eligible, get your shot as soon as you’re able to. We’re being told that vaccine production and supply will increase drastically soon. We haven’t seen that yet but are hopeful opportunities for being vaccinated will increase dramatically over the next month.