Confirmation of second COVID-19 case on Bainbridge Island came from UW

The second confirmed case of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) discovered in Kitsap County was made by a test conducted at the University of Washington.

Tad Sooter, public information officer for the Kitsap Public Health District, said the health district’s website initially had the test result posted as coming from the state public health lab in Shoreline.

The district’s website has since been updated, he said.

The new confirmed case of COVID-19 in Kitsap County was announced Tuesday morning.

Kitsap Public Health District officials announced Tuesday morning that it was notified that the second positive COVID-19 test came from a Bainbridge resident in their 70s.

That person is in isolation, health district officials said.

The Kitsap Public Health District said it “is working as quickly as possible to notify people identified as having been in close contact with the affected individual. Close contacts will be instructed to stay home, per Department of Health guidelines.”

The new case is linked to the COVID-19 case reported Sunday, which also came from a Bainbridge resident; a person described to be in their 60s.

Kitsap health officials said earlier that the district had notified “a small group of individuals” who were identified as having had close contact with the Bainbridge resident who was first to have tested positive for COVID-19, and that those individuals had been asked to stay home.

Kitsap officials would not say how many people were in the “small group” when asked Monday by the Review about the size of that group, and would also not say if any people in the “small group” were being tested for COVID-19.