This week, Island County officially reached a milestone of 10,000 reported COVID-19 cases during the pandemic.

Island County reported Friday that 10,021 confirmed cases among county residents have been counted, which is an increase of 44 in a week. This does not include the number of people using home tests who tested positive.

The 14-day case rate reported Friday was 59 per 100,000 people.

Although case counts have surged recently in response to the BA.2 variant in neighboring counties, such as Snohomish, Island County has had only a slight increase so far.

“This is not as concerning as it would have been six months ago, because now we have ready availability of boosters and all vaccines for those who want them,” said Dr. Howard Leibrand, the county’s health officer.

He added that the pandemic is in the process of becoming endemic. Barring the emergence of any new and highly contagious variants, it’s likely to stay that way.

“Now it’s more like seasonal flu, where there’s vaccines available, there’s pills available,” he said. “I think we’ve reached sort of a tipping point here where this is becoming an endemic disease.”

The recent advent of antiviral pills used to treat serious disease caused by COVID-19 is something Leibrand has been striving to educate healthcare providers and the general public about.

Although by no means a substitute for the vaccine, Leibrand said the antiviral pill has been most effective in unvaccinated patients. It must be administered within five days of testing positive for COVID-19.