Washington County moves to ‘grey’ risk category

Southwest District Health (SWDH) announced Feb. 25 three of the six counties in its jurisdiction have shifted to a “grey” risk category for the first time in 2021.
 The “grey” or routine risk category advises areas to adhere to regular hygiene routines of washing hands frequently, cover coughs and sneezes and wash hands immediately after, stay home when sick, clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces daily, keep a distance of at least six feet between individuals outside the home, and continue wearing protective face coverings. These actions are still strongly encouraged after vaccination is received.
 Based on data gathered between Feb. 7 and Feb. 20, Adams, Payette, and Washington counties have all shown a daily decreased level of incident and positive diagnosis rates and have moved to “grey” health alert level.
 SWDH’s other counties Canyon, Gem, and Owyhee remain in the “yellow” health alert level, while still seeing a decrease in incidence and positivity rates, the statistics are still too high to permit a “grey” level.
 Daily incidence rates are continuing to decline and decreasing positive rates are seen by SWDH. As of Feb. 20, the daily district-wide incidence rate per 10,000 population is 1.29, according to data gathered by SWDH.
 “Thank you to residents of District 3 for continuing to follow current recommendations to slow the spread of COVID-19. As a reminder, all six counties in the district continue to experience community spread, which puts people living in and visiting these communities at higher risk for exposure. Each week, we see our communities’ resilience and determination to reduce the spread of COVID-19, we can see that we are trending in the right direction. Although half of the counties in the SWDH jurisdiction have reached the gray or routine alert level, it is more important than ever to continue safe practices to help bring all of our counties to this same level,” said SWDH in the press release.
 Washington County data provided showed a daily incidence rate of 0.49 daily cases per 10,000 people, decreasing since previous studies, however the positivity rate for the county is increasing, shown 4.59 percent.  As of Feb. 22, there were no school staff or students in quarantine or in isolation in Washington County.
 Adams County data provided showed a daily incidence rate of 1.01 daily new cases per 10,000 people, decreasing by .1. Several of the new cases can be traced to household exposure and evidence gathered by SWDH show community transmission, with 66.67 percent of cases able to identify a potential exposure source. As of Feb. 22, there were no school staff or students in quarantine or in isolation in Adams County.
 Payette County data gathered showed a daily incidence rate of 0.93 new cases per 10,000 people, a decreasing rate. As of Feb. 22, one student reported in Payette County is in isolation.
 District 3 data is available for viewing on the SWDH website at phd3.idaho.gov/covid19/. Statewide information can be found at coronavirus.idaho.gov. Questions and concerns regarding COVID-19 can be answered by calling the SWDH call center Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 208-455-5411.