WhidbeyHealth has completed contract tracing and reports no transmission to other staff or patients after a member of the Surgical Service team tested positive last month for COVID-19.
The original case was reported on September 27, and it was believed the employee contracted the virus outside of work.
After reporting symptoms which developed at work, the team member went into self-quarantine.
At the time, WhidbeyHealth postponed elective surgeries and non-urgent visits to its surgery, obstetrics and orthopedic clinics.
Thursday the hospital issued the following statement:
Repeated testing of providers and staff has been completed.
Everyone has been released from quarantine, and surgical services have returned to normal operations.
This includes elective procedures and related clinical visits.
Everyone who works in the WhidbeyHealth team are deeply grateful for the unanimous concern and support we received from the community.
With COVID-19 infections having spiked in Island County the past two weeks, bigwigs at the Island’s largest employer are firmly reminding their subordinates to mask up, maintain social distancing, and wash your grubby lil’ fingers.
Earlier this week, the Island County Health Department released a statement which said:
“There have been 44 new cases of COVID-19 between Sept. 9 and Sept. 25, 2020.
This is a significant increase from case rates in late August and early September.”
Friday afternoon, CDR Tim “Oz” Oswalt, Executive Officer at NAS Whidbey, issued his own follow-up statement:
In the last two weeks, COVID-19 infections across Island County and on NAS Whidbey Island have increased at a greater rate than at any time during the summer.
It is absolutely imperative that everyone follow the proper hygiene protocols on and off base to curtail this spread.
If the trajectory of this spread continues the base will be forced to impose restrictions and close services.
Please help us avoid taking those actions!
Contact tracing has indicated that congregations of people are a major causal factor in the local spread of the coronavirus, especially those activities where people remove their masks, such as at restaurants and in smoke pits.
Izzy Wells snags a rebound during the last high school game played by CHS before COVID-19 shut things down. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Six months down. Five to go?
Well, it’s a yes to the former, a maybe to the latter.
Tuesday – August 11, 2020 – marks six full months since the last time a Coupeville High School athletic team played an officially sanctioned game in any sport.
Way back on Feb. 11, the Wolf girls basketball team fell beneath a hail of three-point bombs put up by visiting Meridian, and was ushered out of the district playoffs after absorbing its second loss in as many nights.
That brought a close to a strong 12-7 campaign for CHS, playing its first season under new coach Scott Fox.
With nine of 13 players who scored during the season eligible to return, plus supernova sophomore Ja’Kenya Hoskins, who was injured the whole year, the future was, and is, a bright one.
At the time, the sadness of a season ending was muted by the knowledge most of the Wolf players would roll on into spring sports, returning to softball fields, tennis courts, or track ovals.
When the last stragglers exited the gym the night of Feb. 11, they had no way of knowing what was coming, or, what was probably already lingering in the air.
The rise of COVID-19, the moment when it went from being a whisper to a full-blown pandemic, was still around the corner, and no one knew the shutdown of sports was on its way.
Now, as we sit six months down the road, we know Wolf athletes never got a chance to play that spring sports season.
And, we know that after a summer in which traditional activities like little league were left by the wayside, there will be no fall high school sports season.
The good news is that fall, unlike spring, is not being outright cancelled, but instead moved, with sports such as football and volleyball hopping from September starts to March beginnings.
The hope, put forth by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, is that high school sports will return at the start of 2021, with basketball picking up where it left off.
Right now, practices are set to start the last week of December, with a compressed season, in which schools can play 70% of a normal schedule, beginning in January.
Then, if things hold, fall sports occupy March and April, and spring sports return in May and June.
But, as we know, COVID-19 operates as it chooses to operate, and not how we might like it to, meaning nothing is set in stone.
This week, though, we note the six-month anniversary of high school sports being AWOL in Coupeville.
I say “note,” because “celebrate” is probably not the right word.
Instead of being mad, though, we can look back to that last game and remember the highlights, of what was, and what can be again.
Facing off with an ultra-aggressive, very-successful Meridian squad which made it all the way to state, Coupeville had to dig out of a hole all night long.
Which doesn’t mean the Wolves didn’t have their spotlight moments.
Midway through the second quarter, sparked by a steal and bucket from senior Scout Smith, CHS went on a 10-4 surge.
During that run, underclassmen Anya Leavell, Carolyn Lhamon, and Maddie Georges all scored, with Smith setting up Leavell on a note-perfect pass slipped between backpedaling defenders.
Then, late in the game, popular Wolf senior Tia Wurzrainer, celebrating her birthday, pulled up on the move and hit nothing but net on the final jump shot of her stellar prep hoops career.
That sent Coupeville fans into a tizzy in what would be, for now, the final great explosion by Wolf faithful at a high school sports event.
The six months since have been far quieter, and there is no doubt, far lonelier for many.
But the future is unwritten.
Just as we didn’t know that night that things would take a turn for the worse, some day we may look back at today and say, hey, this was where it all began to turn around.
So, I say, stay positive. Look forward. Continue to work.
There will be a day where, once again, Wolf athletes will play, Coupeville fans will be in the stands, and life will be back in a more-familiar rhythm.
None of us know how many hours, days, or months that will be.
As the world deals with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Coupeville plans to open the 2020-2021 school year with primarily online learning.
Superintendent Steve King released a letter to the community Thursday which said he and the school board are recommending the district start in Phase 2 of a 5-phase plan.
Called the “Remote and Connection Model,” it will incorporate “an improved remote learning model with additional in-person connections for at-school opportunities for specifically identified students.”
The school year is slated to begin September 14.
King’s letter:
Over the course of the summer we have been working on multiple options for trying to reopen schools this fall.
As we think about in-person school models, we are following the guidance provided by OSPI, the Governor, and the Department of Health that was provided in June.
This week we received updated K-12 Fall Guidance for opening schools and a K-12 Decision Tree that provides metrics for districts to make decisions about reopening.
The guidance documents include social distancing, face coverings, daily health screenings, and protocols for incidents of COVID exposure that could result in student and/or staff quarantines.
The K-12 Decision Tree puts Island County School Districts in the “Moderate Risk” category for reopening schools.
In addition to all of this guidance, we have surveyed our staff and families in both June and late July and we have reviewed the data from these surveys in order to best serve all of our stakeholders.
We also have been working closely with our local Island County Health Department, OSPI, district administration, union groups, and other school districts in the region to get as much input as possible in order to make this difficult decision.
We are also mindful of the current public health environment in our state and community.
Unfortunately, the rate of COVID infection and the concerns surrounding it have been on the rise over the summer.
We know we do our best work and serve our students, families, and community most effectively when we are able to teach children in our schools 100% of the time, however, it has become clear that we are just not able to fully reopen our schools to in-person instruction this fall.
Given all of these considerations, it is the consensus of our school board and administrative team that our schools open the 20-21 school year in Stage 2, which we are referring to as Coupeville’s Remote and Connection Model.
Coupeville’s Remote and Connection Model means opening schools on September 14 with an improved remote learning model and additional in-person connections for “at-school” opportunities for specifically identified students.
This would provide targeted students some opportunities for face-to-face instruction with staff, while minimizing person-to-person contact.
The additional Connection services would support students with special needs, English language learners, kindergartners, and other students “furthest from educational justice.”
We will also have a strong focus on supporting our students and families with social emotional health this fall which may lead to additional in-person work with students along with remote support.
Throughout this school year we will constantly review our plans, local health outcomes, and the K-12 Decision Tree in order to make school model changes.
Please see our current plans and stages for our phased approach to reopening on our website:
The public health environment and concern in regards to public health in our state and local community are not improving.
Opening with any in-person school model this fall will likely lead to staff and student cohorts quarantined due to exposures. It may also lead to extended school closures.
This would create significant disruptions and no predictable teaching/learning model.
Students and staff perform most effectively with a stable, consistent instructional plan where expectations for engagement and learning are clear and implemented.
Deciding on this approach now allows us to continue to focus on improving our remote model based upon the successes and lessons learned from our spring experience.
With more time for training and implementation we are very confident we will deliver a better distance learning model this fall.
Making this decision now allows staff to focus on opportunities for specifically identified students with unique needs such as kindergarteners and preschoolers, English language learners (ELL), students with special needs, and other students “furthest from educational justice” to have some level of in-person interaction with staff.
These will be tightly managed small group or individual experiences, adhering to all OSPI, Department of Health, and Governor’s Office guidance.
The current 58 pages of guidelines for reopening schools for in-person instruction would likely have a significant negative impact on the learning environment in our schools and classrooms.
At the next school board meeting, August 24, the board will be asked to approve this plan.
Sadly, this pandemic has challenged all of us in many ways. We recognize any change to our regular school model creates complications.
We make this decision with the strong belief that it is the safest option for our community as a whole.
I am so thankful for your patience and understanding during these unprecedented times.
Please continue to show compassion and grace for others in our great community of Coupeville.
I am saddened by the negative impacts that this decision has on so many people, but I am passionate and continue to be optimistic that we will eventually refill our classrooms and hallways with our amazing students when it is safe to do so.
I am certain everyone has many questions regarding the above plan; please keep an eye out for more information in the days ahead.
If you were thinking of sailing to Whidbey Island in July, maybe step back, take a deep breath (from underneath your mask) and just say no.
Otherwise, get ready for deep, deep frustration.
A day after revealing several workers have tested positive for COVID-19, Washington State Ferries officials announced a reduction in service on two of the busiest routes.
The changes will be in place every weekend in July.
The Mukilteo/Clinton route, which is the busiest in the system, and the Edmonds/Kingston route, will both run just one boat, and not the normal two, on weekends.
In a news blurb released Wednesday, it was stated the move was “due to a shortage of available crew during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The dates affected are:
July 4-5
July 11-12
July 18-19
July 25-26
On those weekends, only the #1 sailings on the schedule will be used.
Washington State Ferries officials ask those wishing to sail to “plan ahead by checking schedules online and expect long waits if driving onto a ferry over each weekend, particularly during the Fourth of July holiday weekend.”
