Local health district administrator explains how region could advance faster to Phase 2 | Columbia Basin
MOSES LAKE – On Tuesday, iFIBER ONE News spoke to Grant County Health District Administrator Theresa Adkinson, who says that Grant, Chelan, Douglas, and Okanogan county remains distant, but not far from meeting the threshold needed to advance to Phase 2 of the state’s “Healthy Washington” plan.
“We’re not far, but we’re not close,” Adkinson told iFIBER ONE News.
Adkinson says the region is experiencing the worst of what we’ll likely see in terms of pandemic numbers in 2021. Health leaders haven’t expressed a preliminary timeline as to when we could see the region move into the next Phase based on current trends.
However, Adkinson says one way to help the numbers is that everyone who believes they’ve come into close contact get tested. Adkinson says the more who test negative, the more reflective the data will be in terms of a reduction in positive cases.
As far as restaurants’ “fresh air” dining methods are concerned, she says it appears to be working with no surge in cases linked to restaurants.
Lastly, Adkinson and her counterparts in other counties are in the process of reaching out to the public about Super Bowl weekend.
“We know it’s asking a lot, but if people could hold their gatherings in their garage where there is more airflow and mask up, it would help prevent the spread of COVID.”
Currently, two of the four metrics needed to enter phase 2 are preventing the region from advancement is the 1% decrease in the COVID case rate per 100,000 over the last two weeks and a 14 percent increase in positive cases.
