News Flash

The Labor Day holiday is quickly approaching and health officials caution that our community must remain
vigilant in slowing the spread of COVID-19, despite promising decreases in Cowlitz County cases. Following
established safety protocols will help us get our students back in school. This is accomplished by
maintaining safe practices at work, avoiding social gatherings with those outside our household , social
distancing, and consistently wearing cloth face coverings in public spaces. As the Labor Day weekend
approaches so too does the potential for risky social gatherings, large or small, where increased opportunity
of disease spread exists.

Other than a bump in early August, COVID-19 trends in Cowlitz County have been steadily decreasing
since a spike in mid-July. Cowlitz County is currently at a LOW level of COVID-19 activity, with 24 cases
per 100,000 population in the past 14 days (8/12- 8/25). Low COVID-19 activity is 25 cases per 100,000 in
14 days and low COVID-19 activity is one piece of data that informs the Washington State Department of
Health’s decision tree to guide decisions to return to full-time in-person learning. More information from the
State Department of Health and the identified metrics (decision tree) can be found at
https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/1600/coronavirus/DecisionTree-K12schools.pdf

“It is up to all of us to safely get our students back in the classroom,” said Dr. Steven Krager, deputy health
officer for Cowlitz County. “The actions we take now and over the Labor Day holiday can prevent further
infections and support our ability to safely return students to the classroom sooner.”

Avoiding social gatherings with those outside our household is the best way to slow the spread of COVID -
19. If you are planning to meet with friends or family members over the Labor Day weekend and beyond,
keep your gatherings very small and get together with other people less than once or twice a week. Wear
face coverings, have the event outside, stay six feet apart, and wash your hands often. For more information
on gathering safely, visit https://medium.com/wadepthealth/its-time-for-the-talk-19919ac8362f 

Every Cowlitz County resident looks forward to a return to normalcy and health officials remain confident
that if we all do our part, we can get one-step closer to getting our students back to full-time in-person
learning. However, it is important to understand that getting students back to school is not a sprint to a finish
line, rather the running of a marathon that our entire community, schools, and workforce are participating
in together.

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Previous Press Releases: www.cowlitzcovid19.com