For over a year, The Chronicle has reported on COVID-19 caseloads in Lewis County from a weekly update sent out by Lewis County Public Health & Social Services (LCPHSS).
Through masks coming off and a rise in vaccinations and at-home testing, the way the public navigates the pandemic has shifted significantly since that practice began.
As the general population descends the off-ramp of heightened concern about the viral disease, public health officials now are weighing the value of reporting what they know with what will actually benefit the citizens of Lewis County.
This week, after three previous reports put new case totals each over 100, LCPHSS reported just 49 new COVID-19 cases from Aug. 12-18, five new hospitalizations and no new deaths. There was one active outbreak reported in congregate care settings countywide, the same as the previous reporting period.
One hundred forty-four people were tested at the Lewis County Mall testing site over that time period. While it is not in anyone’s interest for public health officials to withhold information on case totals, the very low count may need to be taken with a grain of salt.
“The problem is that with some of this data, it's never up to date. We're always able to say with much better precision what things were like two or three weeks ago,” said John Abplanalp, deputy director of LCPHSS, adding later, “There is no perfect, good data. Certainly not for this disease and not right now.”
Because of so many people using at-home tests, he said, the best data point the department has for understanding how COVID-19 is circulating in Lewis County comes from hospitalization numbers, which typically lag about two weeks behind when cases are first recognized.
The testing site, which has been active since November 2021, will likely begin ramping down, he said. It is funded by the state Department of Health, which is moving the location of the site to 1744 S. Gold St., Centralia on Aug. 31. It will be closed on the day of the move.
“It's kind of a fine balancing act of giving information, but making it understandable so that people can kind of draw conclusions from it,” Abplanalp said. “(And) not necessarily put more value or weight into it than maybe it should have.”
The CDC’s “COVID-19 by County” page, which classifies communities in low, medium or high case levels, is still valuable for a general sense of transmission rates, he said, as it uses a variety of data points.
He added that as time goes on, the department may end up reporting COVID on a monthly or quarterly basis. Likewise, The Chronicle may end up reporting on swells of COVID case counts the way it has previously reported seasonal flu outbreaks in the community.
Abplanalp said for those who are cautious about COVID-19 going forward but do not want to continue wearing masks or socially isolating, he encourages vaccination. He said as early as next month, there may be an omicron-variant specific vaccine available.
“That's something that people can really tangibly do to protect themselves if they don't want to continue to mask or socially isolate. At some point, we have to transition away from those behaviors. And hopefully we're able to make those transitions as disease rates are going down in the community,” Abplanalp said.
Currently in Lewis County, 57.7% of residents have initiated their primary COVID-19 vaccination series and 52.3% have completed the series. To find a COVID-19 vaccine, visit https:/vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov/.
