State changes rules, fewer counties to return to Phase 2 Alison Grande
On Friday, Gov. Jay Inslee announced a change to the Healthy Washington pandemic reopening plan.
Before, to stay in Phase 3, larger counties needed to have less than 200 COVID cases per 100,000 residents in two weeks, and less than five new COVID hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in one week.
If a county failed to meet one of those requirements, it would be rolled back to Phase 2. Today, the governor changed the guidelines so that a county needs to fail both of them.
“After looking at the most recent data, we were confident that this is the right thing for the state of Washington,” said Gov. Jay Inslee after he toured a mass vaccination site in Spokane.
134 COVID-19 outbreaks linked to Washington state schools, according to new report
News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash. 2 hrs ago Allison Needles, The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.)
Apr. 8 A total of 134 COVID-19 outbreaks occurred in K-12 schools in Washington state between August and February.
The outbreaks involved 526 COVID-19 cases, according to a March 31 report from the Washington State Department of Health.
Of the 526 COVID-19 cases, the median age was 21.5 years and 58 percent were female.
A majority of the outbreaks 64 percent involved two or three cases, and 49 percent of COVID-19 cases were students aged 18 and under.
For race, 46 percent of the people were non-Hispanic white, 9 percent were Hispanic, 7 percent were other and the remaining 39 percent were unknown. Less than 10 were hospitalized overnight, and there were zero reported deaths. Of the hospitalized cases, 80 percent were among adult staff.
Pierce County businesses prepare for possible rollback into Phase 2
Phase 3 opening threatening by increasing cases
Pierce County businesses worry they may have to adjust operations again if the county has to move back to Phase 2.
EDGEWOOD, Wash. - The number of new COVID-19 infections paired with increasing hospitalization rates has health officials in Pierce County warning that a rollback into Phase 2 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Roadmap to Recovery is possible.
Business owners, workers and more are growing nervous as a looming shutdown threatens to erase the progress up until now.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department says the trajectory of new hospitalization and infection rates will likely surge past metrics set by state leadership.
State says Pierce Co. has not accepted all of the vaccines offered. Health dept disagrees
News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash. 2 hrs ago Josephine Peterson and Debbie Cockrell, The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.)
Apr. 8 During Wednesday s Tacoma-Pierce County Board of Health meeting, questions arose over why Pierce County was lagging in its vaccine distribution and had perhaps turned down vaccines.
Health officials pushed back on the assertions, stating no vaccines had been rejected, and also said the state had initially been off in its allocations.
The vaccine update presented at Wednesday s meeting comes as the county teeters on falling back into Phase 2, according to warnings Wednesday from local officials.
by Jasmyne Keimig • Apr 8, 2021 at 8:35 am
Biden s pen is back at it again. PHOTO BY CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES
I really hate that nearly every week I have to come to you and tell you about another horrific mass shooting in this country: Yesterday, five people including two children were killed in a shootout at a Rock Hill, South Carolina home. A sixth victim was shot and has serious injuries, reports ABC News. Authorities say they found the suspect at a nearby home and have not released the name or the motive, but AP is reporting that it s former NFL player Phillips Adams who shot and killed himself after carrying out the shooting. The victims, however, have been identified: Dr. Robert Lesslie, 70; his wife, Barbara Lesslie, 69; their grandkids, Adah Lesslie, 9, and Noah Lesslie, 5; and James Lewis, 39, who was working at the home at the time of the shooting.