Spokane County is in danger of being pushed back to Phase 2, data shows.
As of Wednesday, the county was sitting at 273 cases per 100,000, to stay in Phase 3, it needs to be under 200.
The county’s hospitalizations are also over the Phase 3 metrics right now, with 5.2 hospitalizations per 100,000, which needs to be under 5.
“Our case rate is very high it’s going to be hard to bring it back,” said Spokane Health Officer Dr. Frank Velazquez.
He said the cases are trending up after Easter, Spring break, and the NCAA tournament.
And data shows that the majority of the cases are coming from one group, the 20-29 age group.
Dr. Velazquez said it’s important now that young people are able to get vaccinated, that they do it.
He said this is the only way we can stop the spread, and keep things like graduations, businesses and restaurants open.
“This message reignites with them, the young people are all very community-minded,” he said.
The governor will re-evaluate counties on May 3rd, and Dr. Velazquez says immunizations happening now won’t impact that deadline, but it will help in the long run.
To help right now, Velazquez says we need to continue to follow covid guidance.
“I’m cautiously optimistic that we as a community are going to be able to pull us back and be able to bring our cases down,” Velazquez said.
