Washoe County is one of eight counties listed Aug. 6, 2020 by the state as an elevated transmission risk area.
Aug. 13, 2020 was the deadline for the state to re-evaluate those counties, and move them to the next step if necessary.
"Washoe County hits two of the three criteria, that's not a good thing," said Washoe County Health District Communications Manager Scott Oxarart. The governor and the Nevada Health Response Team are using 3 criteria to determine if a county qualifies as an elevated disease transmission risk area. Meeting 2 of the 3 criteria set by the state puts you on the list. "We can't let our guard down if we want to beat this thing," said Oxarart.
Only 8 counties in the state are considered high risk right now. As of August 6th, 2020 Washoe was one of them. The Health District says the county has a positivity rate of 8%, slightly above the 7% required maximum. It also has twice the amount of cases per 100,000 people that it should have. The third criteria involves the amount of testing being done. "The average number of tests per day per 100,000 residents, if it falls below 150, that is a bad sign. Luckily we have adequate testing in Washoe County so we do not meet that one," said Oxarart.
A high transmission rate county has to submit an action plan to the state. The state determines what has to be done to lower those rates, which may involve closures. "The governor's office is the one that is going to making those kinds of decisions. We submit information to them," said Oxarart.
The Health District has some suggestions on what can be done to improve the status of the county. "It comes down to the things we've been saying for months now. Social distancing of 6 feet or more, wearing a mask, washing your hands for at least 20 seconds, and really trying to minimize the interaction you have with the public," said Oxarart.
The Washoe County Health District says it's already submitted an action plan to the state. But wants to wait until it is approved, to reveal its plans to the public.
