Twenty-three new cases of COVID-19 have been found in Jefferson County over the past week, according to county public health officials.

Seven tests for the coronavirus came back positive Monday; five from Port Townsend.

The new cases earlier this week in Port Townsend included a man in his 20s, a man in his 60s, a man in his 40s, and two women in their 20s.

The two other cases reported Dec. 7 involved a mid-county man in his 30s, and a south county man in his 20s.

The new cases pushed the county's cumulative total of COVID-19 cases to 183. Most of the cases, 96 in all, have been discovered in Port Townsend residents.

At this week's meeting of the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners, officials noted the persistent denial some in the community have about the pandemic, and the effectiveness of wearing masks and the potential of tests and soon-to-released vaccines.

That skepticism continues despite the surge in COVID cases across Washington state, the country and the world.

"We have to look at using masks responsibly and trying to limit this," said County Commissioner David Sullivan.

"It's going to be a few more months," he said.

"There's no question but that we are in a public health emergency," added County Administrator Philip Morley. "As much as folks may want to debate about case testing, I think the statistics about deaths and ICU beds speak for themselves."

"There is a surge going on that is in danger of overwhelming our private and public health systems," Morley said.

Nationwide, the number of COVID-19 cases has grown by 15 percent over the past two weeks, Public Health Officer Dr. Tom Locke told commissioners during their weekly update on the pandemic. 

"The national picture this week just grows worse and worse," Locke said Monday.

More than 200,000 new cases are diagnosed daily, he added, and the death rate continues to increase.

On most days, there are more than 2,000 COVID-related deaths per day.

"There's some estimates that could go as high as 4,000 a day if we see a big Christmas surge," Locke added.

"Here in Washington state cases are up by 20 percent. And we're averaging almost 2,500 cases a day," he said.

Locke said if a local surge from the Thanksgiving holiday comes to pass, it will happen this week.

So far, that increase hasn't been detected.

"We've seen some Thanksgiving holiday-associated cases, but not anything we would really call a surge," Locke said.

While health officials continue to monitor to determine if there will be a Thanksgiving-related surge in cases, Locke also said health officials are preparing for what could be a worse surge — one following the Christmas holiday.

A lot of people were willing to forgo holiday gatherings for Thanksgiving, but may not be willing to do that again at Christmastime, Locke said.

Locke also noted that healthcare workers are getting ready for the arrival of a vaccine for the coronavirus.

There's been a bit of other good news, as well.

Emergency Management Director Willie Bence said the county has received 45,000 N95 respirators.

The gear will be made available to front-line workers and healthcare providers. Some will also be made available to local schools if the supply holds out.

The masks came from the state's Emergency Operations Center, Bence said.

"It was a couple of pallets worth," he said.