From OPALCO Three OPALCO employees have tested positive for COVID-19 on Lopez and others are under quarantine, following the San Juan County protocol. At this time, the employees who tested positive appear to have mild to no symptoms and are resting at home. As their quarantine periods are up over the next week or so,  Continue Reading

From San Juan County When COVID vaccine registration opened at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 10, many hundreds of islanders logged on and searched by their zip code for available clinics, just as they were advised to do in our instructional video. Unfortunately, the zip code search feature was not working. While most applicants were  Continue Reading

From San Juan County Given the recent spike in cases, this update is being provided ahead of the standard reporting schedule. The regular report will be released on Friday, Feb. 12 as usual. Since the last update on Friday, Feb. 5, total cases in San Juan County have increased from 111 to 123. Four new  Continue Reading

By Bob Jarman, Chair of the Board of Commissioners, San Juan County Fire District 3 At our last San Juan County Fire District 3 meeting, San Juan Island Fire and Rescue Chief Norvin Collins told the board he was not going to take his contracted cost of living increase. In the course of his report  Continue Reading

From San Juan County As was seen in the islands over the holidays and throughout this crisis, island residents traveling off-island or hosting guests from off-island is far and away from the most likely source of COVID transmission in San Juan County. As most are aware, several new variants of COVID are spreading rapidly across  Continue Reading

Update: San Juan County Health and Community Services has received confirmation that San Juan County will not receive the first doses this week. This is due to a state-wide disruption to the supply chain. Reservations will NOT be available at 9 a.m., today, Feb. 8.  From San Juan County The Washington State Department of Health  Continue Reading

Frank James MD, health officer for San Juan County, sent this open letter to county schools on Jan. 30. I am recommending that schools consider opening grades K to 6 for in-person education. The Washington state metric for opening in-person education has not been met due to high rates of infection in our four-county region,  Continue Reading

From San Juan County With the governor’s recent authorization to deliver vaccines to those in the Phase 1b Tier 1 eligibility group, the level of questions and concerns from the community has understandably increased.  This situation is inherently unsatisfying and challenging. There is no perfect approach to many of the decisions being made, and the  Continue Reading

From San Juan County Since the last update on Friday, Jan. 22, total cases in San Juan County have increased from 97 to 102. Three new cases are on San Juan Island, and two on Orcas. Approximately 53 individuals who are close contacts of positive cases are currently in quarantine. Orcas Island There are two  Continue Reading

From San Juan Island EMS If you called 911, could San Juan Island EMS find you quickly? San Juan Island EMS needs your help. When responders must search for missing address labels on houses it can make a difference, and a single minute can mean the difference between life and death. We want to get  Continue Reading

By Hayley Day, San Juan Update UPDATE: On Jan. 29, San Juan County officials said some can also get the vaccine at the Lopez Island Pharmacy. Learn more on the pharmacy’s website and Facebook page. In San Juan County, the only COVID-19 vaccine supplier as of Jan. 26 is the San Juan County Health and  Continue Reading

From the Washington State Department of Health The Washington State Department of Health, with assistance from the Washington National Guard and local and private sector partners, will launch four mass vaccination sites throughout the state this week. Announced by Gov. Jay Inslee on Jan. 18, the sites are located in Kennewick, Ridgefield, Spokane and Wenatchee.  Continue Reading

From Washington State Department of Health On Jan. 22, the Washington State Department of Health announced that based on Governor Jay Inslee’s Roadmap to Recovery phased reopening plan, all eight regions in Washington will remain in Phase 1 until at least Monday, Feb. 1, 2021. DOH, in partnership with Microsoft AI for Health, has launched  Continue Reading

Sign-up For Vaccine Updates From PeaceHealth From PeaceHealth We’re proud to play a pivotal role in helping end this pandemic. Following federal and state guidance, we’ve provided a COVID-19 vaccine to more than 12,000 health care workers. We are eager to begin offering the vaccine to others in our communities as more vaccine becomes available  Continue Reading

From San Juan County On Monday, Jan. 18, Governor Inslee and the Washington State Department of Health have opened vaccine eligibility to Phase 1b Tier 1. San Juan County will begin delivering Phase 1b Tier 1 immunization on Wednesday, Jan. 20. Q: Who is Eligible for 1b – Tier 1? Anyone over the age of  Continue Reading

From San Juan County This Q&A will focus on the San Juan County response to the COVID-19 vaccine distribution. There are a number of local organizations working hard to get approval from the Washington State Department of Health so they can receive supplies and begin administering doses. However, even the members of the vaccine team  Continue Reading