The Associated Press

and Peninsula Daily News

SEATTLE — The state Department of Health has reported its highest number of new coronavirus cases in one day since the start of the pandemic.

On Thursday, DOH reported 6,888 new cases. This number is the highest the department has ever reported. The latest record of 6,144 new cases was reported on Dec. 24.

KOMO reports the latest numbers bring Washington’s total cases since the start of the pandemic to 849,075 cases, 45,381 hospitalizations, and 9,853 deaths.

North Olympic Peninsula numbers have not been updated since Thursday because of the New Year Eve’s holiday.

Clallam County reported 87 new cases on Thursday. Nine people were hospitalized with the virus.

That brings the county’s total since the pandemic began to 6, 217 cases and the case rate to 766 per 100,000.

The positivity percentage for the last weeks is 19.98 percent.

The percent positive is the percentage of all coronavirus tests performed that are actually positive.

Eighty Clallam County residents have died of COVID-19.

Port Angeles has recorded more cases than Sequim or the West End. People in their 30s have a higher number of cases than other age groups.

In Clallam County, 65.6 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated, according to the county COVID-19 dashboard.

The case load is so high that public health workers can’t keep up with contact tracing for all who test positive for COVID-19, the county says. For information on what do if you test positive or know you have been exposed, go to www.clallam.net/coronavirus/.

Jefferson County, where 74.30 percent of the population has been vaccinated, reported 12 new cases on Thursday. It has a case rate of 416 per 100,000 and a positivity rate of 8.3 percent for the week of Dec. 23-29. Two people were hospitalized as of Thursday.

The total number of cases since Feb. 1, 2020 is 1,508, according to https:// jeffersoncountypublichealth.org/1466/Case-Information .

Twenty Jefferson County residents have died of the virus.

Vaccination clinics and testing sites can be found on county public health and hospital websites. Vaccines are available at pharmacies also.

Port Angeles School District plans to provide testing for students and staff experiencing symptoms or who have been exposed to the virus before classes resume on Monday.

Testing is offered between 6:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. at the Lincoln Center district office at 905 W. Ninth St.

“If your student is sick, please keep them home from school and get tested,” the district says on its website. “Cases are rising sharply, and we all must do our part to keep our schools open and safe.”

The district, which tracks cases on its website, reports two confirmed cases at Hamilton Elementary School between Dec. 21 and Dec. 31. Total cases confirmed in the district before Dec. 21 are 122. The district does not say if the cases are among students or staff.

Port Townsend School District also reports cases on a website dashboard. It reports one case confirmed at Salish Coast Elementary School between Nov. 29 and Dec. 13. No one was exposed at the school, the dashboard says.

Seattle Public Schools have announced that the district will delay its return to classes by one day to allow for voluntarily COVID-19 testing Monday for all students and staff. The district said in a social media post that in-person classroom instruction would resume Tuesday.

The state’s largest public school system said it has acquired 60,000 rapid antigen tests that can be used for its staff and students form the state Department of Health.

“In light of the surge in COVID-19 transmission in our community due to the Omicron virus, we’ll be using these tests to support a healthy return to school,” the district said.