Governor Inslee Announces Pause in Roadmap to Recovery Phase Movement
Media Contact: Kelli Hawkins | khawkins@srhd.org | (509) 324.1539, c (509) 994.8968
Spokane, Wash. – Today, Governor Jay Inslee announced a two-week pause on movement in the Healthy Washington: Roadmap to Recovery reopening plan. Under the pause, every county will remain in its current phase and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
Spokane County will remain in Phase 3 of the reopening plan, allowing additional time for the community’s fourth wave of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations to plateau or decrease.
“We have seen positive indicators that our county may have reached the peak of this wave,” said Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD) Interim Health Officer Dr. Francisco Velazquez. “The state is evaluating this new information and recognizing the possibility of a turning point.”
Velazquez explained the two-week period gives SRHD and the community a chance to take advantage of the positive indicators and use the momentum to push forward with public health measures and vaccination efforts.
“We can now stay focused on increasing vaccinations while maintaining public health measures. If everyone does their part by masking, distancing, planning safe gatherings, getting vaccinated and helping others get vaccinated, we will see a stabilization of our metrics within the next two weeks,” said Velazquez.
SRHD reported current Roadmap to Recovery metrics for Spokane County:
| COVID-19 Activity | Current | Change Since Last Period | Is this the trend we want to see? | Roadmap to Recovery Phase 3 Goal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of newly diagnosed cases reported per 100,000 people (04/18/2021 - 04/31/2021) | 280 | From 299 | Yes | < 200 |
| Daily reported hospitalizations and 7 day rate per 100,000 (04/25/2021 - 04/31/2021) | 5.9 | From 9.6 | Yes | < 5 |
| Average % tests positive for COVID-19 (04/15/2021 - 04/21/2021) | 10.1% | From 10.4% | Trend is flat | Not a Phase 3 metric |
| SRHD staff consistently work to minimize discrepancies with data reported by the Washington State Department of Health; however, due to reporting methods and ongoing investigations, all estimates should be considered tentative and subject to change. | ||||
“Vaccination remains one of the most important actions you can take to help our community stop the spread of COVID-19,” Velazquez said. “The best vaccine is the one made available to you.”
COVID-19 vaccination locations and scheduling can be found online on the Washington State Department of Health’s Vaccine Locator (vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov) or by calling (800) 525-0127, then press #. Language assistance is available.
