Public Health Officer Dr. Allison Berry and Director of Emergency Management Willie Bence spoke to commissioners and the public at the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting Monday April 1st for the monthly Health Report, and answered questions from KPTZ listeners and the commissioners.

Dr. Berry said that three respiratory illnesses have dipped in number; RSV, Flu, and Covid-19 are all downtrending. She said in terms of Covid-19 that across the US, hospitalizations are down and locally there is far less of the virus in Port Townsend wastewater. Covid is still here however, so she recommends wearing a mask in the airport, while boarding and during descent while traveling by air. 

Measles was mentioned and the reason there is any in the US is because fewer people are getting vaccinated, she said. Especially in children, it can cause severe disease and require quarantine of 21 days for kids to stay home from school, whether they have measles or haven’t been vaccinated should there be an outbreak at school. But right now there seems to be no measles here in Jefferson County or in the I-5 corridor of Puget Sound.

Willie Bence said there will be an event with helpful information about wildfire and smoke impacts especially for those in sensitive groups (children, the elderly, and anyone with asthma or other respiratory illnesses) on Wednesday, April 10 at Finnriver Cider Garden from 5:30 to 7pm.