Coos County Public Health officials continue to encourage people to get vaccinations. Currently, the county needs to vaccinate 6,645 residents to reach 65% eligibility. That means the county has 52% of its population vaccinated. Those who haven’t vaccinated are encouraged to continue COVID safety measures including masking up and social distancing. Dr. Eric Gleason says public health is monitoring a variant within the county and state that is more contagious resulting in more hospitalizations statewide. Most infections with the variant are more severe and occurring in younger individuals. Local contact tracers say it possible the county is on the verge of a surge. Most recent cases have been tied to non-reportable outbreaks including church and social gathering events. Currently, the county has 100 people under monitoring, 84 active cases, and three hospitalizations. Officials say the most recent death announced today is a female in her 80s, which brings the total number of deaths to 36 in Coos County.
