Grays Harbor Public Health COVID-19 response update
Grays Harbor County Public Health & Social Services Department
Case updates
Grays Harbor County has 12 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
March 2020: 2 cases
April 2020: 10 cases
No additional cases of COVID-19 have been identified in Grays Harbor County since April 12. Grays Harbor Public Health Incident Management Team (IMT) remains prepared to respond if any additional cases are identified.
Response efforts
Community-based drive-through testing site operating
Grays Harbor Public Health and the Washington National Guard have tested 79 people for COVID-19 since opening a community-based drive-through testing site in Aberdeen on April 15. 22 people have tested negative for COVID-19; 57 tests are pending.
Testing at the community-based drive-through site is free and is now available to anyone 18 years and older who has symptoms of COVID-19 (fever [subjective or measured] and cough and/or shortness of breath). “At this time, we are now able to open up the criteria for who can be tested at our community-based drive-through test site,” said Dr. John Bausher, Grays Harbor County Health Officer. “We are grateful to the Washington State Public Health Lab for helping us secure the testing supplies we need to be able to test more people.”
Testing will continue daily as long as supplies permit. To make a testing appointment, call the Grays Harbor Public Health COVID-19 call center at (360) 964-1850. The call center will be open over the weekend, from 8:30am to 4pm on both Saturday and Sunday.
Patients wait in their cars for drive-through COVID-19 testing.
What people should do
If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough, difficulty breathing), call the Grays Harbor Public Health COVID-19 call center at (360) 964-1850. A medical professional will talk to you about your testing options.
Grays Harbor County residents should do their part by following Governor Jay Inslee’s Stay Home, Stay Healthy order. Stay home unless you need to pursue an essential activity like shopping for groceries or going to a medical appointment.
Residents should wear a cloth face cover when they have to go out in public, for example to the grocery store or to pick up other necessities, and cannot maintain 6 feet of physical distance from others.
This recommendation is not a substitute for existing guidance to maintain 6-feet of physical distance from non-household members and performing frequent hand hygiene with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Wearing cloth face coverings will not prevent spread of COVID-19 without these other protective measures.
This is not a mandate that you must wear a face covering. It is considered an additional layer of protection.
Where to get information
Grays Harbor Public Health has set up a call center to answer questions about COVID-19. Call (360) 964-1850 or email covid19@co.graysharbor.wa.gov.
The call center is currently staffed 7 days/week from 8:30 AM until 4:00 PM and is bi-lingual (English and Spanish).
Residents who are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough, difficulty breathing) can also call the call center for testing and medical care referrals.
Local information and resources related to COVID-19 are also available on our website at www.healthygh.org.
About Grays Harbor Public Health’s COVID-19 response
On March 17, 2020 Grays Harbor Public Health activated an incident management team to coordinate the local response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the direction of a policy group that includes local officials, medical and emergency response experts, and the Grays Harbor County Health Officer, the incident management team is using the best public health and medical science to control and mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic.
Grays Harbor Public Health works to improve the health and well-being of the people of Grays Harbor.
Visit our website at http://www.healthyGH.org. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/healthyghc.