Clark County is in good standing for Phase 3 of Washington’s COVID-19 recovery plan, according to discussion from Wednesday’s county Board of Health meeting.
Clark County entered Phase 2 on June 5, and according to guidance from Gov. Jay Inslee, the soonest the county could enter Phase 3 is three weeks after entering Phase 2. That would put the county on track to enter Phase 3 around the end of the month.
While a Phase 3 application is still 10 or so days away, the county is meeting most of the important metrics, although Clark County Public Health Officer Dr. Alan Melnick has cautioned about COVID-19 case surges happening in Washington, and the U.S. Clark County has had its own uptick in cases recently, but only three cases were confirmed Wednesday.
Clark County has recorded 659 confirmed cases to date, and 28 deaths. After a recent increase in percent of positive COVID-19 tests that was mostly tied to workplace outbreaks, Clark County has dipped back down below the 2 percent threshold that the state considers ideal.
In the weeks of May 23 and May 30, the county had a 2.5 and 2.4 percent positive rate, respectively. In the week of June 6, that rate dipped to 1.8 percent.
The county is also below the statewide goal for new cases, which is 25 or fewer per 100,000 residents over a 14-day period. The hospitals in the area are also under 80 percent capacity, according to Public Health data, even though COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen from four to 12 people this week.
In Phase 3, outdoor sports with between five and 50 people could resume. Pools and gyms could reopen at 50 percent capacity or less and gatherings of up to 50 people would be allowed. Movie theaters and libraries could reopen. Bars could operate at up to 25 percent capacity, and restaurants could increase from 50 percent capacity to 75 percent.
Melnick voiced concern on Tuesday about rising COVID-19 case counts across the state and the U.S. The case counts could indicate more hospitalizations and deaths in the near future.
He said the rise in cases is likely tied to increased mobility in the community and people becoming lax in their adherence to physical distancing and mask-wearing. Melnick and County Councilor Gary Medvigy stressed the importance of following that guidance as things begin to reopen.
“People are out and about now,” Melnick told The Columbian on Tuesday. “I wish there were a more universal appreciation of physical distancing and mask-wearing. We want to get to the point where we’re opening up, but I would plead with people that those are things that keep the numbers down so we can move along.”
Melnick also told the board that racial and ethnic disparities are present in Clark County’s coronavirus cases. That has been the case across Washington and the U.S., where Black people and Hispanic and Latino populations have disproportionately borne the brunt of COVID-19, something that will likely continue as reopening happens.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows that nearly 23 percent of America’s coronavirus deaths have been Black people, even though they only make up 13 percent of the country’s population.
“This is something we are observing at the national level, the state level and we are also observing it at the local level,” Melnick said.
In Washington, Hispanic and Latino populations have accounted for 43 percent of the state’s cases, even though Hispanic and Latino people only make up 13 percent of the state’s population.
In Clark County, Hispanic and Latino people make up more than 31 percent of the county’s COVID-19 cases. In Firestone’s outbreak, 53 of the 72 Clark County cases were Hispanic or Latino, according to Public Health.
Health experts and officials have connected these COVID-19 disparities to structural racism that has led to higher barriers to health care for Blacks and other people of color, and also working in environments where they are more likely to contract the virus and less likely to be supported in their workplace in a search for health care.
“There’s pressure on people to work even if they are not feeling well,” Melnick said.
