Another month. Another month!? Yes. Another month. The bad news: the pandemic continues and the trends can be a bit bouncy. The good news: Island County remains in Phase 3 (of hopefully only 4 phases, but let’s see what happens.) The other good news: the vaccines are becoming much more common.

Eventually, the pandemic will fade, but not all at once. So many people are acting responsibly that we catch glimpses of whatever normal might be coming. In the meantime, we’ve been establishing new habits for more than a year. Many of us have habitually stayed in our local communities. Now that regions like Island County are becoming more open, many folks are getting to move on to new habits that should seem familiar, but not quite. Walk down your neighborhood street without a mask? Sure, but don’t be surprised if you feel a little anxious if you see someone else without a mask. They might be adjusting, too. It’s happening around the world. It is something that was normal, that will be normal, again, eventually. In the meantime, wearing a mask is also a way to possibly alleviate hay fever allergies.

An interesting time as we adjust our responsibilities.

On the list of the 39 Washington State counties tracked by the health officials, Island County has fewer than 3% “Percent positive tests for COVID-19 during the past week” where some counties are in the mid-teens, and is at ~126 “Rate per 100K of newly diagnosed cases during the prior two weeks” where over half the counties are over 200. Congratulations to the counties that are even healthier. Sadly, a few counties retreated to Phase 2. That may also mean some people decide to travel here than elsewhere.

While we’re making progress, the trend isn’t straight down. We’re currently seeing a (hopefully temporary) rise back to levels we saw in late fall. Fortunately, Island County has experienced almost as many vaccinations as people, but many of those require two shots, not just one. There’s more work to do.

A couple of things that haven’t changed lately:

In general, Island County is doing better than most counties.

In general, Washington State is doing better than most states.

We’re making progress; something that is made possible through the actions of responsible people. Thank you, all.