Marion County Health Department Administrator Melissa Mallow says an outbreak in a Centralia industry fueled a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases last Thursday and Friday. She reports they closed early for the 4th of July holiday. Mallow says none of those at the plant who tested positive for COVID-19 had been vaccinated.
There were 16 new positive cases in all reported last Thursday and Friday.
The numbers came back down in the latest reporting period of Saturday through Wednesday. Only six were recorded over the five-day period. Three were considered from community spread and the other three from household or close contacts. None were long-term care residents. One was a student but was not in summer school.
There are currently 19 on home isolation in Marion County and four who are hospitalized. Eleven were released from isolation over the five-day period.
Mallow has also announced one of the Marion County positive test samples pulled by the state for further analysis showed it was the Delta variant first discovered in India and now believed to be the dominant variant in the U.S.
The CDC has indicated the Delta variant is much more contagious than other variants and has been blamed for many of the recent outbreaks around the country. Since not every sample is tested for variant, Mallow says it is not known how many of the local cases are from the Delta variant.
