Spokane Mayor Nadine says she’s disappointed in the news that the Eastern Region of Washington, which includes Spokane, will not be moving forward in Washington State’s Roadmap to Recovery.
“It’s disappointing that we are going to have to wait two more weeks,” Mayor Woodward said, “The plan has been changed, the goal posts have been moved, and now we have to wait longer to see if we are going to get there.”
Thursday, Governor Jay Inslee announced that two regions of the state (West, Puget Sound) will move forward into Phase 2. Woodward was hopeful that with a recent dip in COVID-19 cases, the East region would be moving on as well.
“I think by next week we would have met, again, three of the four metrics,” Mayor Woodward said.
Unfortunately, spikes in COVID-19 cases Wednesday and Thursday further ensured that the East Region, and Spokane, would be staying put in Phase 1 for now.
Still, the Mayor says that continued vigilance can help bolster the case for the East region moving on.
“We have to do the one thing that we have control over,” Mayor Woodward told a KHQ reporter, “and that is following the health guidance– and that is to mask up, to social distance, avoid large gatherings, and stay home when we are sick. That’s what we’re in control of and we need to continue to do that to get to the next phase.”
Following the announcement today by Inslee, state regions only have to meet three of the four public health metrics below to move into Phase 2.
Trend in case rate: Trend in 14-day rate of new COVID-19 cases per 100K populationTrend in hospital admissions rate: Trend in 14-day rate of new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100K populationPercent ICU occupancy: Average 7-day percent occupancy of ICU staffed bedsPercent positivity: 7-day percent positive of COVID-19 testsThese metrics will be monitored every two weeks.
