Last Friday, Governor Inslee announced a
4-phase plan
for reopening businesses in Washington State, which included an opportunity for 10 small, rural counties to apply for a variance to reopen certain businesses several weeks earlier than other counties. Columbia County Public Health posted the following update on Facebook on Sunday May 3:
Governor Inslee announced that Columbia County, Washington is eligible to apply for a variance request to move from Phase I to Phase II in the Governor’s plan.
Process for completing this:
-Columbia County Health Officer recommendation
-Columbia County Board of Health vote on the request
-Columbia County Health Systems submits a letter certifying adequate bed capacity and adequate PPE to serve the community and keep workers safe.
-Columbia County Commissioners request to move to phase II
Columbia County Public Health provides the following to the Washington State Department of Health for review and approval:
-Plans to make COVID19 testing available to everyone in the county with symptoms consistent with COVID19
-Identify the number of people trained and ready to perform case investigation and contact tracing
-Plans to house people in isolation or quarantine who do not have a home or wish to isolate/quarantine outside the home
-Plans to provide case management services to cases and contacts in isolation and quarantine
-Plans to rapidly respond to an outbreak in congregate settings.
Timeline:
Columbia County Public Health will ask Commissioners for a vote on the request to move to Phase II on Monday, May 4, 2020. Columbia County Public Health, health officer Dr. Larry Jecha, has submitted a letter of recommendation. Public Health plans to submit needed documents to the Department of Health on Monday or Tuesday, then await guidance and approval of the opening date to move to Phase II from the Department of Health and Governor Inslee.
Thank you to Martha Lanman and Columbia County Public Health for being ready and willing to respond to this opportunity immediately.
