Health officer: Snohomish County COVID numbers continuing ‘in the wrong direction’
Apr 27, 2021, 5:10 PM | Updated: Apr 28, 2021, 8:01 am
Last week, Snohomish County announced that it had exceeded one of the two metrics that would send it back to Phase 2 of reopening when the state evaluates data on May 3. As of the end of that week, the county has now exceeded both metrics, and is at risk of rolling back.
Snohomish County ‘in serious jeopardy’ of rolling back to Phase 2
In order to remain in Phase 3, large counties need to have 200 or fewer new cases per 100,000 residents over two weeks and five or fewer hospitalizations per 100,000 residents over the past week. For the two-week period ending on April 24, Snohomish County’s case rate per 100,000 sat at 223, while its one-week hospitalization rate rose to 5.3.
“That clicks both of the parameters the state uses to monitor the return to recovery, making it likely that we would be asked to move back to Phase 2 by the state next week,” Health Officer Dr. Chris Spitters said during a weekly briefing. “Things continue to go in the wrong direction.”
That’s a trend that been prevalent across the Puget Sound region, including in King County, where the case rate per 100,000 has risen to 229, while the hospitalization rate is now at 5.5 per 100,000.
In order to mitigate against these increases in the short term, Spitters emphasized the need for Snohomish County residents to get vaccinated as quickly as possible.
Gov. Inslee defends decision to roll three counties back to Phase 2
“Our pathway out of this — these serial waves and the impacts on our society — is for everyone to get vaccinated,” he said.
And while vaccination efforts have progressed steadily, Spitters estimates that at the region’s current pace, Snohomish County won’t likely reach 90% of coverage for all adults until mid-August.
“This is still several months off,” he noted.
In the meantime, he’s advising residents to continue masking up indoors, avoiding large gatherings, and “taking it outside for small gatherings.”
“It’s time for all of us to step up our efforts,” Spitters said.
