Mayor Crystal Dingler has been diligent about providing COVID updates, which helps put the most recent figures in perspective. While 27 COVID-19 cases in Ocean Shores over a two-week period ending July 23 might not seem alarming, considering the city has a population of around 6,000 — it’s more than a touch concerning, from a recent-history perspective. OS recorded 10 or more COVID cases over two weeks only a handful of times over the last year. From August through October, there were only a total of seven COVID cases reported. The previous high for a two-week period was 14, for the two weeks ending May 14. That fell back over the next reporting periods to six, three, eight and four — before the sudden spike to 27. The likely cause is the Delta variant, which one study showed has a “viral load” of 1,000 times more than the original coronavirus, and thus is much more contagious.
For data over the last year, visit https://oceanshores.civicweb.net/filepro/documents/60782
The North Beach News 