KLICKITAT COUNTY – Just over one year ago, on March 3, the Klickitat County Emergency Operations Center activated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been a year to remember for all! After a year of social distancing and closures to everything we have become accustomed to in our lives, things are starting to change for the better. On March 22, 2021, the Governor has stated that the entire state of Washington will move into phase 3 of the Roadmap to Recovery.
Phase 3 will allow all indoor spaces to open at a 50% occupancy or 400 people maximum. The new phase will also allow in-person spectators at events as well as participation for indoor events with capacity limits specific to the size of the event. Additional information will be posted this week with industry-specific guidance, please refer to the Washington State Coronavirus webpage for those updates.
The metric system that is used to evaluate each county’s phase eligibility is also changing. We will no longer be grouped as a region and instead, we will be held accountable by our individual county statistics. Currently, Klickitat County is doing AMAZING with only two (2) active cases and four (4) new cases in the last fourteen days. As long as we continue to make good healthy decisions and take the precautions necessary we will be able to continue in phase 3 and enjoy the additional opportunities that are allowed. The required metrics for our county will be to maintain thirty (30) or fewer cases in a fourteen day period and three (3) or fewer hospitalizations in a seven (7) day period.
Vaccines are an important aspect of maintaining the low case counts. Our county partners have done a fantastic job with getting the vaccines to the eligible residents. So far almost 10,000 vaccines have been given in our county. With these recent changes, the governor also announced additional vaccine eligibility. You can check the phase finder to see if you are currently qualified or to be notified when you become qualified. Once you are qualified you can contact Klickitat County Public Health, Klickitat Valley Health, Skyline Health, or NorthShore Medical Group to make arrangements to be vaccinated.
Our Individual Choices Make a Difference
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Klickitat County Resources-
Public Health–http://www.klickitatcounty.org/289/Public-Health
Emergency Management- https://www.klickitatcounty.org/249/Emergency-Management
Klickitat Valley Health– http://www.kvhealth.net/
Skyline Health- www.myskylinehealth.org
Northshore Medical Group- https://northshore-medical.com/
State Resources-
Washington State Department of Health Dashboard- https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/COVID19/DataDashboard
Washington State Coronavirus Response-
Governor Inslee Phase 3 Announcement- https://medium.com/wagovernor/inslee-announces-statewide-move-to-phase-3-of-recovery-plan-return-to-spectator-events-and-tier-2-4a53000f2724
Vaccine Phase Finder–