New COVID-19 cases could impact Snohomish County's Phase 3 application

EVERETT, Wash. - The Snohomish County Health District is addressing a “troubling” increase in COVID-19 cases in the area.

Dr. Chris Spitter, the health district director said 75 new cases were reported Monday. He announced the uptick during a virtual briefing, Tuesday, with the county executive.

The health district director, said the new cases were the largest single-day total reported since April 9th, which had 92.

“So, this is a big number of cases, we're still in the process of notifying all those folks, making sure they're isolated, eliciting their contacts, and then trying to find out where they came from to guide our further control efforts,” said Spitters.

Spitters said his office is also looking into the possibility of additional cases, after learning about a large party over the weekend.

Phase 2 of the Safe Start Washington plan allows gatherings with no more than five people outside of a household. He said one of the party’s attendees tested positive for coronavirus.

“Now we have over 50 people that the health district is trying to locate and reach out to and advise them about their exposure, get them quarantined and encourage them to get tested. It doesn't appear that masks or social distancing were implemented at that gathering. So, we are indeed assuming that all those folks were potentially exposed,” said Spitters.

Safety is priority at Bre Cyn Salon in Everett, especially since stylists are working seven days a week to keep up with their packed schedule after the county moved into Phase 2.

“We’ve had almost 500 guests in just our first week alone. But everyone has been really patient, and it’s been great. Guests just wait in their cars and call us when they get in,” said Emily Ochs, salon owner.

Ochs said her team and clients have been following Phase 2 rules to keep everyone healthy. This includes staff and customers required to wear masks, sanitizing all chairs and work stations after every use, covering the customer’s face with a towel during a shampoo treatment and maintaining six feet social distance.

With the new COVID-19 cases reported in Snohomish Co., Ochs said she questions if others are taking safety measures seriously.

“It is worrisome and especially when you’re working directly with customers and close spaces,” said Ochs.

Friday marks the earliest day the county is eligible to submit an application for Phase 3. The potential exposure from the large party, on top of the 75 new cases reported has county leaders second guessing their application.

“We've been making progress, but if things don't go well, you know, we can get stalled or we can even end up having to move backward,” said Spitters. “I just want to reiterate that for all folks that this is really important going forward, especially as we do try to reopen and have more contact in various settings, the risk of transmission goes up so our defenses against that need to stay up as well.”

Moving backward is the last thing the team at Excellent Choice Auto Sales in Everett wants to hear.

“It definitely makes us nervous. As everybody, we want to see all those numbers go down. We hope that we can come together as a community and really help to protect everybody,” said Jamie Ryan, the dealerships office manager. “We’re a family owned business and just like everybody else in the community, we have families and grandparents and babies at home and we want to keep them safe.”

Ryan said it’s going to take the community’s effort to reduce the spread of coronavirus. She’s encouraging everyone to do their part by maintaining social distance and clean hygiene habits.

“We provide masks for all of our employees and our customers, we provide gloves, we sanitize all of the vehicles before and after a test drive,” said Ryan. “We want to do our best to do our part to keep everybody safe so that hopefully we can start on a right trajectory and move forward as a community.”

County health district officials said they anticipate new updates on case numbers by Friday. They are also working closely with the state on how to proceed with an application for Phase 3.

COVID-19 drive-thru testing are still available at various locations throughout the county, including McCollum Park in Everett from noon to 7 p.m. on Thursday.