Olympic Times

As a small community, Grays Harbor County had very low case numbers in the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Public Health Director Karolyn Holden said.

That made it difficult for the public health officials to provide details on where the people lived who were diagnosed with the virus.

“Now that we have larger number of cases coming in it is not a violation of ethical standards to begin to deliver that detail,” Holden told KBKW. “The number of events provides enough cover for folks so that people aren’t going to be speculating about any given individual.” (19:41)

The Department of Health's website had been previously reporting information on gender, age group and zip code of those who have tested positive for the virus, she said.

“We will be posting a map that will show case counts by zip code and it will be a shaded map, sort of a heat map to show where we are seeing more cases and fewer cases," Holden told KBKW. (20:37)

As of Aug. 10, the county reported 124 total cases of coronavirus, 27 active cases and three deaths. The “heat map” showing cases by zip code is also posted on the county website.  

But Holden cautioned not to make too much of the heat-map data.

"I always want to say that knowing where people live who have been diagnosed with COVID, does not tell us where they were exposed, where they may have travelled or participated in activities or where they potentially exposed others," she told KBKW. (0:31 of second interview)

 Knowing where the patients lived “does not inform me about where I should go or not go,” she said. “What is means to me is that everywhere I go, I could be exposed."

For that reason Holden says precautions are vital.

"I mask, I wash my hands. And I don’t go places unless it’s necessary to do so," she told KBKW. " Please don’t put too much faith in or get a false sense of security about these numbers. COVID is out there. It’s everywhere and at least 25% of cases are asymptomatic.” (1:03 of second interview)