Snohomish County is at risk of being one of the next counties to go back to Phase 2 of the reopening when the state re-evaluates COVID-19 data on May 3.
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To stay in phase 3, major counties need 200 or fewer new cases per 100,000 residents over the past week for two weeks and five or fewer hospitalizations per 100,000 residents. As of Tuesday, Snohomish County has now hit one of those thresholds, with 205 new cases per 100,000.
For new cases, the province has seen its numbers double in less than a month, up more than 250% since its March low of 85 new cases per 100,000. The 950 cases the county saw for the week of April 4 also marked the highest one-week total in Snohomish County since the fall and winter wave started last November.
While it remains compliant for hospital admissions for now, the county is nearing the limit at 4.6 per 100,000 residents for the week ending April 10, and Snohomish County Health Officer Dr. Chris Spitters said on Tuesday that he believes the region “likely will”. exceed or approach the benchmark of five hospital admissions by May 3.
“That puts us on the threshold and in serious danger of slipping back to phase 2,” warned Dr. Diggers. “Without a doubt, these trends could push us into phase 1 not long after.”
As for the cause of these recent rises, Dr. Spitters believes an increase in unmasked large gatherings among community members is likely to be to blame.
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“A quick scan of social media feeds is a good qualitative indicator,” he described. “We just have too many people gathering in gatherings with friends or family members who aren’t fully vaccinated, don’t wear masks, and don’t keep their distance.”
Snohomish County Health posted on Facebook on Tuesday, “There are many COVID outbreaks among youth sports teams. These outbreaks endanger the Snohomish community and the province is at risk of phase rollbacks. “
Despite all of that, Spitters hinted that it may not be too late for Snohomish County to change things by May 3.
He advises residents to keep masking and not to get around with others outside of your household in large groups of unvaccinated people.
“If we take this approach right away and we do all these things well, I think we have a reasonable chance of getting around the tighter restrictions,” he said. “Going back one phase is painful and has a heavy toll for many, but that’s where we’ll be going in the coming weeks if these numbers don’t change. It has happened before and it will happen again if we don’t change course. “