COVID-19 cases continue to rise on the North Olympic Peninsula, but the case rate is beginning to go down.

Clallam County experienced an increase of 101 cases on Wednesday, bringing its total to 9,747 cases, though the case rate dropped down to 1,676 per 100,000 population after two days of increases.

Case rates are the reflection of cases reported over a two-week period of 100,000 and lag behind the daily reported cases.

Jefferson County saw an increase of 17 cases, bringing its case total to 2,660 population. Its case rate will be updated on Friday.

This is in line with what Dr. Allison Berry, health officer for Clallam and Jefferson counties, has said would likely occur as the region reached the peak of the omicron variant infections.

Hospitals on the Peninsula are still filling up, but hospitalizations are beginning to decline in neighboring counties. That allows for more transfers for very ill patients.

Fourteen Clallam County residents have been hospitalized for COVID-19. Eleven are at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles with at least two in the intensive care unit (ICU) and three more are in ICUs at neighboring hospitals.

Four Jefferson County residents have been hospitalized with COVID-19. Two are in ICU, one at Jefferson Healthcare in Port Townsend and one out of the county.

No new deaths from the virus have occurred in either county. Clallam County has had 95 COVID-19 deaths over the course of the pandemic while Jefferson County reports 23.