205 W 5th Ave Ellensburg, WA 98926-2887
Monday - Friday 8 AM - 5 PM
Kittitas (pronounced 'KITT-i-tass') County is located in central Washington State. It spans from the lush forested Cascade Mountains to the upper Yakima River Valley plains and the Columbia River.
Kittitas County, WA - 01/12/2022 - The Kittitas County Public Health Department (KCPHD) will temporarily suspend updates to the Kittitas County COVID-19 data dashboard. KCPHD has been unable to maintain updates during this most recent surge, but the same information regarding COVID-19, including Kittitas County specific information, is available via the Washington State Department of Health’s website along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. Information available includes positive cases, hospitalizations, COVID-19 related deaths, levels of transmission in addition to specific reports that cover vaccine breakthrough, sequencing, and variants, and more. KCPHD will reevaluate the dashboard at the beginning of February.
“We anticipate that at some point COVID-19 will be considered endemic versus a pandemic, meaning that COVID-19 will be regularly found among individuals and daily case counts are less informative,” states KCPHD Director Tristen Lamb. “There is still public health work to be done in response to COVID-19. Community transmission is high, and our priorities continue to be around keeping kids safe in school and protecting the at-risk population.” The constants through the pandemic have been the need to stay home and away from others when you are sick. The population who is considered at risk has not changed; we know that older individuals, pregnant individuals, and immunocompromised individuals are at higher risk for severe disease or death from COVID-19. The recommendation to get vaccinated if you can has not changed but does include everyone age 5 and older. “We know that January will continue to see significantly high numbers of transmission, which will increase the workload of contact investigation and contact tracing,” states Director Lamb. “We are incorporating the latest changes from CDC and DOH about isolation and quarantine. We expect continued changes. We do not know what testing, case investigation and contact tracing, and isolation and quarantine will look like in the future, but we will continue to be responsive to our needs at the local level.” The COVID-19 vaccine is available to everyone 5 years of age and older. The booster is available to everyone 12 years of age and older. Please use vetted websites such as Washington State Department of Health (DOH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), along with the Washington State COVID-19 website for more information regarding COVID-19.
Kittitas County, from the Cascades to the Columbia, and online at http://www.co.kittitas.wa.us
###
Contact: Kasey Knutson, Public Information Officer, 509-962-7515
