San Juan County Health and Community Services staff were notified of four new positive COVID-19 test results in San Juan County on April 4, including one on San Juan Island and three on Orcas Island. This brings the total number of cases in San Juan County to ten. The County data reporting page will be updated at the end of the day on Monday, once all of the test results and numbers from all local healthcare providers are available and updated.

The new positive test result on San Juan Island was reported for a provider at San Juan Island EMS. However, after extensive public health investigation with the County surveillance team and San Juan Island EMS leadership, there appears to be very limited exposure risk to the public or other agency members.

According to San Juan Island EMS Interim Chief Karl Kuetzing, “We are working closely with San Juan County. Both EMS and the County Health Department are confident that there has been little to no contact with the general public or members of the EMS team during the period of time when the patient may have been infectious. We will continue to monitor the situation and will provide clear information as needed to the community.”

One of the cases on Orcas is of a close household contact of a previous positive. The other two cases are still under investigation.

Residents of all islands should be working off the assumption that the illness is present in their community. Aggressive efforts to ensure hygiene, to limit social contact, and to remove any opportunity for disease transmission are essential.

San Juan County health officials remind everyone that if you feel sick and have mild symptoms, stay home. If you feel you have more serious symptoms or if you are at risk for severe illness, stay home and call your health provider. Do not go directly to a clinic or to the hospital. Follow your doctor or health provider’s direction. If you feel the situation is urgent and life-threatening, call 911.

For more information and if you have access to the internet, please visit our informational webpage at www.sjccovid.com. You can also visit the San Juan County Health and Community Services Facebook page. The San Juan County COVID-19 Hotline (360-370-7500) is staffed Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the State of WA Hotline (800-525-0127) is staffed from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., 7 days a week.

For more information about contact tracing, see this recent article: https://www.islandssounder.com/news/public-health-101-contact-tracing/.