Port Angeles — Clallam County Public Health is streamlining its COVID-19 case data reporting as it transitions from an emergency response to a more sustainable and long-term approach to monitoring the virus.

“Our [Public Health staff] continue to spend many hours, including on weekends, compiling data in order to keep up with daily COVID-19 reporting. Our job is to give people the information they need in order to assess their own risks and make informed choices about how to stay healthier. At this stage of the pandemic, I believe transitioning to once-a-week reporting will provide the public with that information, while allowing our staff to return more attention to our other public health programs.” stated Dr. Allison Berry, Public Health Officer for the North Olympic Peninsula.

The weekly report will be published each Monday except in the event of a holiday. The new schedule began on Tuesday, June 21 (due to the Juneteenth holiday) and then subsequent Mondays. In addition to a shift to weekly reporting, data will now appear on a dashboard designed with new, interactive data presentation software.

The weekly reported data will include the two-week case rate; the number of new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as well as all-time totals; a percent positivity of tests performed at Olympic Medical Center, and charts showing hospitalizations by age and region.

Clallam County Public Health staff have issued a COVID-19 report Monday through Friday, excluding holidays, since March 2020.

Today, some of that data is no longer helpful when determining risk factors.

For example, there is little evidence a person’s gender influences their risk of being infected with COVID-19. Cases among those identified as female and those identified as male will no longer be included in the report.

Clallam County Public Health values input from members of the public. Anyone with questions or comments may send an email to publichealth@clallamcountywa.gov.