— from Emergency Operations Center, Camp Murray —
Newest numbers. The Department of Health reported 706 new cases in the past day for a total of 60,084 confirmed cases as of 11:59 pm on August 4. There have been 1,624 COVID-19 deaths in Washington.
For the most recent tally of cases by county, demographics, and more, visit the Department of Health’s dashboard and the state’s COVID-19 risk assessment dashboard.
Note: DOH is continuing to experience issues with its reporting system today. The agency is able to report cases, deaths and hospitalizations but have not reported new negative test results since 8/1. DOH is working hard to address the issue and will post new information as soon as it is available.
New school reopening guidance announced today. Gov. Jay Inslee, Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal and DOH’s state health officer, Dr. Kathy Lofy, announced new guidance for school reopening at a press conference today.
The “decision tree” framework issued by DOH emphasizes that schools are not islands. Community transmission must be low in order for schools to reopen safely for in-person learning.
DOH’s “decision tree” framework offers metrics based on three COVID-19 activity levels in counties:
- More than 75 cases per 100,000 in 14 days is considered a high COVID-19 activity level for a community. At this level, DOH recommends distance learning with the option for limited in-person learning who need it most – such as children with disabilities. Sports and extra curricular activities should remain on pause.
- 25–75 cases per 100,000 in 14 days is considered a moderate COVID-19 activity level. At this level, DOH recommends distance learning as described above, with gradual expansion of in-person education, beginning with elementary students. Younger students under the age of 10 benefit the most from in-person learning while also posing less risk for transmitting COVID-19 than older students. Most sports and extra curricular activities should remain on pause.
- Below 25 cases per 100,000 in 14 days is considered a low COVID-19 activity level. At this level, DOH recommends full-time in-person learning for all elementary students and hybrid learning for middle and high school, eventually moving to in-person for middle and high school.
Plans regarding school reopening are made by the local health jurisdiction and school district. Parents can find the most up-to-date information about their child’s school by contacting district or school administrators.
You can watch today’s press conference on TVW.
Washington, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon announce coordination on telehealth. Gov. Jay Inslee joined Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown to announce today that their states will be working together on telehealth issues. The governors issued a statement saying the pandemic has heightened demand for telehealth services and they want to work together to develop best practices and resolve issues related to access, confidentiality, equity, standard of care requirement, stewardship, patient choice and payment/reimbursement.
Read the release here.
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WHERE IS BRENDAN COWAN …his helpful, upbeat reports are the breath of local air that I, for one, love to read, and paid close attention to.
Ellie, Brendan Cowan took last week off. He’s back now, so perhaps soon. I agree with you! His almost daily updates were/are informative and inspiring, with a real community feel to them.