Other News
Apr 25, 2025: New Daily Service Schedule, Growing Ridership & Other Insights on County’s Pilot Transport Services
Apr 24, 2025: Building and Land Use Permits, Long-Range Planning Projects, & Staff Recruitments: DCD Leadership Provides Spring Update
Apr 4, 2025: 2025 Comp Plan Update: Transportation Element, Plan Intro, & Administration Piece Ready for Review
Mar 19, 2025: San Juan County Establishes Interim Inter-Island Transportation Services as RFP Process Continues
Mar 7, 2025: 2025 Comp Plan Update: Climate Element and Draft Official Map Amendments Available for Review
Mar 6, 2025: Governor Ferguson announces plan to restore Washington State Ferries to full service by this summer
Mar 4, 2025: Public Meeting: Land Bank Using Prescribed Fires to Manage Wildfire Risks & Restore Ecosystems
Feb 19, 2025: San Juan County Seeks Proposals from Transportation Service Providers for Pilot Project
Feb 12, 2025: Call for Candidates: Three-Day Special Filing Period for Lopez Metropolitan Park District Commissioners
Jan 19, 2025: Four districts, six unions, three PTAs, and county leadership all agree: legislators must take action to fully fund education no
Dec 19, 2024: San Juan County Parks and Fair Announces New Camping Software; Delaying Reservation Availability
Dec 10, 2024: County Council Considers Extending Agreement with Lopez Solid Waste to Allow for More Collaboration
Dec 5, 2024: San Juan County to Consider Updated Interlocal Agreement with Lopez Solid Waste Disposal District
Dec 2, 2024: San Juan County Council Sets Public Hearing for Cultural Access Sales Tax at Dec. 10 Meeting
Nov 25, 2024: San Juan County Celebrates Completion of Lopez Skate Park and Calls for Inaugural Skaters
Nov 7, 2024: How Has Extreme Weather Impacted You? Participate in the County’s Climate Resilience Planning Effort
Nov 1, 2024: UPDATE: Sea Wall Repairs Temporarily Close MacKaye Harbor Dock and Boat Ramp on Lopez Island
Oct 22, 2024: DRAFT North Shore Preserve Stewardship and Management Plan Now Open for Public Comment
Oct 21, 2024: Reminder: You’re Invited to Attend Open Houses for the 2025 Comp Plan Update This Fall
Oct 1, 2024: LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF THE SAN JUANS SPONSORS OCTOBER COUNTY COUNCIL VOTER FORUMS ON SJI, ORCAS, AND LOPEZ
Sep 24, 2024: County Hosts Community Meeting on Lopez Island to Discuss Public Safety during Hunting Season
Sep 24, 2024: SJC Reviews Shoreline Habitat & Infrastructure Adaptation Strategies in the face of Sea Level Rise
Sep 23, 2024: DRAFT Watmough Bay Preserve Stewardship and Management Plan Now Open for Public Comment
Aug 29, 2024: San Juan County’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging Survey Sets Baseline for Ongoing Change
Aug 27, 2024: 2024 San Juan County WSU Master Gardeners Gardening Workshop Series, October 15-24, 2024
Aug 27, 2024: County Representatives Discuss Solutions to Ferry Service Disruptions with Governor Inslee
Aug 21, 2024: County Council’s Request to Governor for Relief from Ferry Service Disruptions Not Fulfilled
Aug 20, 2024: San Juan County Certifies Primary Election Results & Celebrates Highest Primary Turnout in Years
Aug 13, 2024: WSF Commits Additional Crews to Interisland Route to Ensure Service During County Fair Week
Aug 13, 2024: Ferry Data from Staff and Local Partners Shapes Council Request for ‘Executive Relief’ From WA State
Aug 5, 2024: The Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival returns to Lopez for its 27th Summer Concert Season
May 2, 2024: WA State Governor and Assistant Secretary of WSF Talk Ferry Service & Solar Power with SJC Officials
Apr 11, 2024: Community Meeting: Sea Level Rise Adaptation for Outer Bay and Agate Beach Areas on Lopez Island
Mar 11, 2024: Queers in Unexpected Places: Searching for (and Finding) Gender and Sexual Non-Conformity in the Rural and Early PNW
Mar 7, 2024: DRAFT Richardson Marsh Preserve Stewardship and Management Plan Now Open for Public Comment
Dec 5, 2023: County Council Member Jane Fuller and Senator Liz Lovelett to Host Public Meeting on Lopez
Nov 3, 2023: County and Town Send Open Letter to State Officials Regarding Impacts of Poor Ferry Service
Sep 29, 2023: Conservation Land Bank Announces Special Meeting to Discuss Watmough Bay Preserve Addition
Sep 14, 2023: The mobile dental van is coming to Lopez! // ¡La camioneta dental móvil ya llega a López!
Aug 22, 2023: San Juan County Adopts 32-Hour Work Week in the Name of Fiscal Health, Recruitment, and Islander Wellness
May 25, 2023: Recap of Lopez Neighborhood Meeting Regarding the Relocation of Public Works Facilities
May 23, 2023: District 3 Councilmember Jane Fuller Opens Office on Lopez and Hosts Community Conversation
Apr 17, 2023: Give Lopez Starts April 17th - A two week fundraiser benefiting 15 Lopez Island Non-Profits
Sep 22, 2022: Interim Watmough Preserve Addition Stewardship and Management Plan Now Open for Public Comment
Surging Cases: The Islands' New Reality
Aug 12, 2021
By San Juan County
Fourteen new COVID cases were reported in San Juan County on August 10th. While 11 of these cases were tied to two household clusters, this is still an alarming number.
The number of hospital beds devoted to COVID patients in Washington is doubling about every 10 days. This current surge is beginning to impact our access to advanced medical care.
It is time to rethink our understanding of COVID in the islands and beyond.
The Delta variant is spreading rapidly across the world, the United States, Washington, and San Juan County. It is here. Recent local cases have come via travel, hosting visitors, attending large events, or undetermined causes. Islanders should assume that if they spend time indoors and in proximity of unmasked individuals, that they will eventually be exposed.
While the exact science around the severity and infectiousness of the Delta variant is far from complete, we have a good understanding of the basic situation. This new strain of COVID is highly transmissible and is behaving in ways not seen in previous versions of the disease. The risk to our community, especially for those who are unvaccinated is real and significant.
Despite this new risk, vaccinated individuals should approach COVID as a disease to be wary of, but not to live in mortal fear of. Some vaccinated individuals will become sick, but the vaccine is tremendously effective at preventing serious illness. Those who have made the choice to be vaccinated should continue to feel extremely confident in their decision and their level of protection.
Those who remain unvaccinated should be far more concerned. The unvaccinated are more likely to become infected and the risk of severe illness and hospitalization is many times greater. The exact numbers are shifting rapidly, but to date about 5.4% of WA residents infected with COVID end up in the hospital, and about 1.2% of WA residents infected with COVID die. As just a very rough measure, if one were to assume that all the approximately 4,200 San Juan County residents who remain unvaccinated are eventually infected with COVID, about 225 of them may end up in the hospital and 50 of them will die. Remember that nearly 1,400 of those 4,200 unvaccinated residents are children who are not yet able to receive the COVID-10 vaccine and are relying on the community around them to protect them.
The bottom line is that a far more infectious strain of COVID is in our community and we should expect that case numbers will continue to increase dramatically. So, what comes next given current trends?
- Impacts to our public health and regional healthcare system will become more severe, potentially limiting access to advanced care for all ailments.
- A very small but predictable percentage of unvaccinated individuals will continue to end up hospitalized with COVID. About 20% of those unvaccinated individuals who end up in the hospital will die from the disease.
- The previous mandatory masking order for inside San Juan County businesses will be reinstated as of 5pm on Friday August 13th. This is being done primarily to do our part to relieve the strain on our healthcare system.
- Those who choose to remain unvaccinated will need to be extraordinarily cautious to ensure their safety.
- Given the massive and preventable surge in cases, social and regulatory pressure on those who choose to remain unvaccinated will increase.
- Parents of children 11 and under will continue to await news about new approvals for vaccine that will enable them to vaccinate their children.
- Local public health and healthcare providers will struggle to keep up with demand for testing, disease surveillance, and routine care. What should we as islanders be doing?
- First off, it is totally reasonable and probably healthy for vaccinated islanders to feel frustration that we’re in this position. It didn’t have to be this way, but national vaccination rates never reached a level that would stamp out the disease.
- Mask up when in public indoors. Think of it as doing a thankless and immeasurable favor for the public health and healthcare system staff whose ongoing capacity to support this crisis is stretched to its breaking point.
- Be thoughtful with your socializing and travel. We’re not advocating full lock down but be smart and moderate in your interactions.
- Businesses should look extremely carefully at all approaches to ensure a fully vaccinated workforce. Remember that vaccinated close contacts of a positive case are not subject to the 14-day quarantine requirement, but unvaccinated close contacts of a positive case are.
- Work to keep anxiety and anger at bay. This needless surge is immeasurably disheartening and we're all exhausted but keeping a sense of perspective and prioritizing both physical and mental health is key.
- Look for creative ways to build a culture that even more strongly encourages vaccination. Some businesses are choosing to only serve vaccinated individuals, many who have suffered from COVID are speaking up to share their experiences, and more and more people are not choosing to sit quietly with their frustrations as we suffer
through an avoidable case spike. Only through changing the dialog can we change the outcome.
At this point, the strain on our healthcare system is increasing dramatically and further impacts are unavoidable. Yet, with quick collective action we can limit the damage, hit the peak of the surge sooner, and start getting back to some version of normal.
It is time to rethink our understanding of COVID in the islands and beyond.
The Delta variant is spreading rapidly across the world, the United States, Washington, and San Juan County. It is here. Recent local cases have come via travel, hosting visitors, attending large events, or undetermined causes. Islanders should assume that if they spend time indoors and in proximity of unmasked individuals, that they will eventually be exposed.
While the exact science around the severity and infectiousness of the Delta variant is far from complete, we have a good understanding of the basic situation. This new strain of COVID is highly transmissible and is behaving in ways not seen in previous versions of the disease. The risk to our community, especially for those who are unvaccinated is real and significant.
Despite this new risk, vaccinated individuals should approach COVID as a disease to be wary of, but not to live in mortal fear of. Some vaccinated individuals will become sick, but the vaccine is tremendously effective at preventing serious illness. Those who have made the choice to be vaccinated should continue to feel extremely confident in their decision and their level of protection.
Those who remain unvaccinated should be far more concerned. The unvaccinated are more likely to become infected and the risk of severe illness and hospitalization is many times greater. The exact numbers are shifting rapidly, but to date about 5.4% of WA residents infected with COVID end up in the hospital, and about 1.2% of WA residents infected with COVID die. As just a very rough measure, if one were to assume that all the approximately 4,200 San Juan County residents who remain unvaccinated are eventually infected with COVID, about 225 of them may end up in the hospital and 50 of them will die. Remember that nearly 1,400 of those 4,200 unvaccinated residents are children who are not yet able to receive the COVID-10 vaccine and are relying on the community around them to protect them.
The bottom line is that a far more infectious strain of COVID is in our community and we should expect that case numbers will continue to increase dramatically. So, what comes next given current trends?
- Impacts to our public health and regional healthcare system will become more severe, potentially limiting access to advanced care for all ailments.
- A very small but predictable percentage of unvaccinated individuals will continue to end up hospitalized with COVID. About 20% of those unvaccinated individuals who end up in the hospital will die from the disease.
- The previous mandatory masking order for inside San Juan County businesses will be reinstated as of 5pm on Friday August 13th. This is being done primarily to do our part to relieve the strain on our healthcare system.
- Those who choose to remain unvaccinated will need to be extraordinarily cautious to ensure their safety.
- Given the massive and preventable surge in cases, social and regulatory pressure on those who choose to remain unvaccinated will increase.
- Parents of children 11 and under will continue to await news about new approvals for vaccine that will enable them to vaccinate their children.
- Local public health and healthcare providers will struggle to keep up with demand for testing, disease surveillance, and routine care. What should we as islanders be doing?
- First off, it is totally reasonable and probably healthy for vaccinated islanders to feel frustration that we’re in this position. It didn’t have to be this way, but national vaccination rates never reached a level that would stamp out the disease.
- Mask up when in public indoors. Think of it as doing a thankless and immeasurable favor for the public health and healthcare system staff whose ongoing capacity to support this crisis is stretched to its breaking point.
- Be thoughtful with your socializing and travel. We’re not advocating full lock down but be smart and moderate in your interactions.
- Businesses should look extremely carefully at all approaches to ensure a fully vaccinated workforce. Remember that vaccinated close contacts of a positive case are not subject to the 14-day quarantine requirement, but unvaccinated close contacts of a positive case are.
- Work to keep anxiety and anger at bay. This needless surge is immeasurably disheartening and we're all exhausted but keeping a sense of perspective and prioritizing both physical and mental health is key.
- Look for creative ways to build a culture that even more strongly encourages vaccination. Some businesses are choosing to only serve vaccinated individuals, many who have suffered from COVID are speaking up to share their experiences, and more and more people are not choosing to sit quietly with their frustrations as we suffer
through an avoidable case spike. Only through changing the dialog can we change the outcome.
At this point, the strain on our healthcare system is increasing dramatically and further impacts are unavoidable. Yet, with quick collective action we can limit the damage, hit the peak of the surge sooner, and start getting back to some version of normal.