SPOKANE, Wash. — The curve is not flattening in Spokane County. The area has progressively seen an uptick in coronavirus cases almost every two weeks, health officer Dr. Bob Lutz said on Wednesday.
The Spokane Regional Health District reported 58 new coronavirus cases in the county on Wednesday alone. Forty people have died from COVID-19 in Spokane County since the pandemic began.
In order to flatten the curve, people must make changes to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Those include wearing a face covering in public, Lutz added.
As of Tuesday, July 7, businesses in Washington state are required to turn away customers who are not wearing masks. Masks have already been required for all residents of Washington state for several weeks now.
“Our hospitality industry does not have a say in the matter, as we have to comply to keep our permits and liquor licenses from being revoked. That means our staff are put on the front lines to ensure and enforce these measures. And I hate to say, it’s often met with unpolite responses,” said Chad White, a chef and restaurant owner in Spokane, on Wednesday.
A recent survey that netted more than 700 observations throughout Spokane County concluded that about 65% of people were wearing face coverings, according to Lutz. That's a good start, but he needs to see the number increase, he said.
“I want to see it up around 80 to 90%. That’s where it really needs to be to have an impact,” Lutz said on Wednesday.
The masking survey is based on similar efforts out of Yakima County, Lutz said. It’s simply an observational survey where volunteers are asked to look at 25 people and count how many were wearing masks.
Volunteers were based in North Spokane, Liberty Lake, the cities of Spokane and Spokane Valley, and as far west as Cheney, according to Lutz. These surveys will now be conducted on a weekly basis.
Mark Starr, who owns David’s Pizza in downtown Spokane, also stressed the importance of guests wearing face coverings before they get to their tables.
“If they choose not to wear a mask, we will respectfully say we can’t have you now,” Starr added.
Lutz also addressed those who have expressed concerns about medical exemptions for masks.
“There aren’t a whole heck of a lot of medical reasons [not to wear a mask],” he said on Wednesday.
“For me, it’s sort of an out,” he added later.
In Washington state, people with respiratory or cardiac conditions that make wearing masks dangerous or risky will be provided exception and won't have to wear a covering.
The same goes for the deaf and hard of hearing, if wearing a mask or covering will inhibit their ability to communicate.
Children are encouraged to wear masks, but those under five won't be held to the rule. Gov. Jay Inslee said children under the age of two shouldn't wear masks.
Lutz said the health district has received calls from physicians asking about medical exemptions, adding that it’s up to the physician whether to grant them.
People who have medical reasons for wearing a mask are often classified as high-risk, which begs the question of whether they should be going out as community spread increases in Spokane County, Lutz said.
Lutz also reiterated on Wednesday that the increase in COVID-19 cases throughout Spokane County is "not just a function of doing more testing.”
"If we were doing more testing, we wouldn’t see an increased positivity rate if we didn’t have the amount of COVID-19 in the community," he said.
Spokane County should ideally have a positivity rate of about 2% but, right now, the county is sitting at about 8 percent, Lutz said. The county reached rates of positive coronavirus tests that were as high as 18 to 20% last week.
“We are doing more testing but we also have more spread. We have people that are out infected and not knowing they’re infected," Lutz said.
Last week, epidemiologists in Spokane County found that about 55% of coronavirus cases had epidemiological links, Lutz said.
A case that includes a link has been connected to a previously confirmed case. Essentially, the county confirms a positive COVID-19 case and uses contact tracing to find people linked to it.
But 45% of cases last week did not have links, leaving epidemiologists unable to connect the dots, according to Lutz. This means about half of last week's cases are attributed to community spread.
In the first full week of June, 85.2% of all reported cases were linked, with only 14.8% of cases attributed to community spread.