On Tuesday, Gov. Jay Inslee announced “Healthy Washington — Roadmap to Recovery” which is the state’s new COVID-19 reopening plan.
The eastern Washington region sits in Phase 1 of the new plan. So what need to happen to move into Phase 2?
Requirements to move to Phase 2 Compared to Spokane County
Requirement 1: Decreasing trend in two-week rate of COVID-19 cases per 100K population (decrease >10%)
According to data from the Washington State Department of Health, the case rate per 100,000 has been decreasing over the last two weeks in Spokane County.
On December 22, the case rate was 896.3 per 100k/14 days.On December 29, the case rate was 746 per 100k/14 days. On January 5, the case rate was 694 per 100k/14 days.
Garfield County had the highest rate on January 5 in the eastern Washington region with 945.9 per 100K/14 days.
Requirement 2: Decreasing trend in two-week rate new COVID-19 hospital admission rates per 100K population (decrease >10%)
In the eastern Washington region, 15 percent of hospital beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients. The goal is to have the number at 10 percent.
As of January 5, 71 people are hospitalized for COVID-19 in Spokane County.
Requirement 3: ICU occupancy (total — COVID-19 and non-COVID-19) of less than 90%
In the eastern Washington region, ICU beds are 65 percent full with 15.4 percent of those beds holding COVID-19 patients.
The eastern Washington ICU bed region includes Spokane, Stevens, Pend Oreille, Lincoln, Adams, Whitman, Garfield and Asotin counties.
Requirement 4: COVID-19 test positivity rate of <10%
As of January 5, Spokane County’s COVID-19 positive test rate is at 14 percent. Over the last two weeks, the positive rate has teetered between 15 and 13 percent.
