Washington state health officials plan to announce today [Monday] whether any of the state’s 39 counties will have their Covid phase status changed.
“The good news is that we’re making progress in communities across the state, but there are communities or counties where we are seeing increases that are of concern," said Health Secretary Umair Shah.The entire state is now in Phase 3. The governor announced last week that counties have some leeway. They must fail not one, but two metrics to be downgraded. Those are coronavirus case rates over the previous two weeks and hospitalizations over the last week.
“We will, unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, have to take the appropriate action when we believe that people may be at risk," Shah said.
According to the Spokane Regional Health District website, Spokane County’s two-week case rate on Sunday was 212 cases per hundred thousand residents. That’s higher than the 200 needed to stay in Phase 3. Its hospitalization rate was four-point-seven per hundred thousand, as of Friday, lower than the five needed to stay in Phase 3.