Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
COLFAX - After Whitman County went from the “moderate” to “high-risk” category over the weekend in the Washington State Department of Health and Governor Inslee’s guidelines to re-open schools, Whitman County commissioners talked about the state of things Monday regarding the virus.
“It’s gonna be up to those who don’t subscribe to conspiracy theories that are gonna solve this for our communities,” said Michael Largent, chairman of the board of commissioners. “We don’t have to be here. We just don’t have to be where we’re at.”
A county is deemed high-risk with more than 75 new cases per 100,000 residents over a two-week period. Whitman County added 42 new cases in the past two weeks. The county’s population of an estimated 50,000 means the number of new cases needs to stay at or under 19-20 per week to remain at moderate risk.
“Guess what, we’re stuck with masks, distancing and washing your hands,” said Commissioner Art Swannack. “A lot of those infected are asymptomatic, but that doesn’t mean they don’t spread it.”
Commissioner Dean Kinzer added his perspective.
“We need to be responsible,” he said. “As the governor has eased restrictions on visiting long-term care facilities, my 90-year-old mother, we haven’t been able to visit her but one time... we need to take responsibility for ourselves and the other people we come in contact with.”
Swannack mentioned another motivation, noting Largent’s 14-year-old son.
“If we’d like to keep our kids going to school, we need to keep the caseload down,” said Swannack.
“You don’t have to like the governor politically,” Largent said. “This is not about trying to get someone elected or not, it is about health. Contact tracing – I’ve heard reports of people who have hung up on contact tracers. The people who are saying this is somehow an invasion of their privacy are certainly missing the point. If you refuse to speak to a contract tracer, you’re just gonna make the problem worse.”
He continued.
“We’re not doing it for the governor, for the president, we’re doing it for our neighbors, our community. Because we care. Our part in this is pretty simple. I don’t like to wear a mask, but I’ve got small businesses that are struggling, I’ve got people who are isolated. I can do my small part.”
What about those who say the statistics are being misread or misrepresented?
“Facebook science?” said Largent. “I’m not an epidemiologist. I’m gonna let those who are trained in this to interpret the data. We’re gonna have to go with what the experts say.”
Kinzer concurred with Largent and Swannack on masks and distancing and added more.
“I’m of the mind, if we need to build herd immunity, we need to have a few cases everyday so the population becomes immune,” Kinzer said. “But they don’t know if people will build immunity for life or not.”
Whitman County is in Phase Three of Washington’s Safe Start plan.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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