New case confirmed in Jefferson County

Patient hospitalized at Jefferson Healthcare

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Health officials confirmed a new COVID-19 patient in Jefferson County over the weekend.

The woman, who is over the age of 90, is currently hospitalized at Jefferson Healthcare.  She is the first patient to be hospitalized locally. 

“She is in stable condition,” said Tom Locke, public health officer. 

Health officials began the case investigation and contact tracing this weekend, Locke said. 

“We benefited from some of the new tools we have,” he said. “We were able to get rapid testing. We tested several suspected contacts and were able to tell within 24 hours whether they were infected or not.” 

County health officials also have the capacity to do two types of “antibody” testing, he said. This allows health officials to learn if an asymptomatic person was infected. It also helps officials learn when someone was first exposed and infected with the illness. 

A new case puts the county’s plan to potentially loosen social gathering restrictions up in the air. 

Gov. Jay Inslee announced May 1 counties with small populations and no new cases in three weeks were allowed to apply for a “variance” to his “phase-in” plan for reopening businesses 

Under this criteria, Jefferson County would no longer be eligible to apply to reopen some businesses earlier than the rest of the state. 

But according to Locke, there has been discussion at the state-level as to whether this criteria is valid. 

Several counties, including Mason and Stevens, have applied to move to “Phase 2” of reopening, even though they did not fit within the governor’s criteria. 

Kittitas County, which was one of the original 10 counties allowed to apply for a variance, has now seen an outbreak at a meatpacking plant where 35 people were confirmed to be infected. 

“Zero cases is not a realistic goal for anyone,” Locke said. “I think it’s highly likely that the state will adopt alternate criteria.”

Locke is expected to release his recommendation tomorrow about which businesses should be allowed to reopen. Then, the Board of Health will discuss this recommendation at a meeting on May 14. 

This is just the first step in a community-involved process county commissioners have set for deciding which businesses can open according to the governor’s plan.