A mother walks with her son after closing all Seattle public schools for fears of coronavirus on March 11, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by John Moore / Getty Images)
Snohomish County political leader says out loud what many think as schools across the state prepare to reopen.
No Washington school would reopen to all students below the end of 2020 threshold
“I would just warn people that reopening doesn’t mean everything is going smoothly,” executive Dave Somers said this week. “We just have to support our teachers and school districts while they do it and make the best decisions we can.”
Somers warned families that the situation is fluid as school resumes and said people should plan last-minute changes to school rules and all face-to-face activities.
“We’re in a somewhat dangerous situation right now, but we’re just trying to support each other,” he said.
The county executive noted that the health department and local school districts work well together as they analyze best practices based on current COVID conditions.
Aside from the current increase in delta-driven cases, like many places, COVID-19 cases in Snohomish County increased with the return of cold weather last fall.
“The hospitalization rate is real, the case rate is real, the dangers of COVID are real,” Somers said.
“Stay tuned – it will be interesting as we open up,” he added.
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According to Shawn Frederick with the Snohomish Health District, local hospitals continue to experience an increase in COVID cases and staff shortages.
Just over 1,700 cases were reported in the county last week. Over the past two weeks, the county’s case rate was 394 per 100,000 residents.
Frederick also says there are still 209,000 residents eligible to receive the vaccine but have not yet been vaccinated.