Undersheriff Wes Rethwill addresses the Lewis County Board of Commissioners following Monday’s emergency declaration
Lewis County Commissioner Bobby Jackson listens during a past business meeting
Lewis County Manager Erik Martin during Monday’s business meeting with the Board of County Commissioners
By Colton Dodgson
cdodgson@chronline.com
After Lewis County confirmed its first official case of COVID-19 on Sunday, the Lewis County Board of Commissioners declared an emergency in Monday’s business meeting.
County Manager Erik Martin called the declaration “largely preparatory.”
“It (an emergency declaration) eliminates a lot of restrictions the county may incur as far as bidding requirements, hiring temporary workers, entering into contracts and some of those things that are bound by law under normal situations,” Martin said during Monday’s meeting. “In an emergency situation, we have a lot more latitude on what we can do. In case something comes up, we have the ability to move quickly.”
According to Lewis County Public Health and Social Services, an 80-year-old Lewis County resident tested positive for coronavirus and is currently undergoing medical care. LCPHSS is investigating where the virus could have been contracted and who may have come in contact with the individual.
Martin reiterated Lewis County Health Officer Rachel Wood’s statements from Sunday’s release, in which she stated residents of the county are still at low risk.
“This virus can’t travel on its own, it depends on us to transfer it from one person to another,” Wood said in a press release. “A person would have to have spent time within six feet of this infected person to be at risk themselves. Anyone who had not, was not exposed to this person.”
According to Commissioner Bobby Jackson, the state of emergency will line the county up for “certain funding” that will assist throughout the COVID-19 event. He also said county officials are looking into the practicality of online services.
“That’s probably the first thing we’re thinking about,” Jackson said following the meeting. “How we can continue to offer those essential services without creating a situation where people are going to be exposed to other people that might be sick or have colds, or anything like that.”
Lewis County Internal Services Chief Steve Wohld said the various county departments and offices have been told to start looking for ways to offer services remotely as of this morning.
In a meeting on Friday, Martin said closing county facilities wasn’t “on the table right now,” but added the county was working on developing contingency plans.
Undersheriff Wes Rethwill offered the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office’s approval of the emergency declaration during Monday’s meeting.
“We are in full support of this proclamation and whatever the commissioners would like to do on this matter,” Rethwill said.
On Sunday, Gov. Jay Inslee ordered bars, restaurants and other entertainment facilities to temporarily close and limited the size of any gathering to 50 people. While restaurants can still operate through take-out and delivery, Jackson feels the ban is going to hurt rural communities who rely on restaurants.
As far as additional closures, Jackson said it was “very possible.”
“In some ways, it’s likely probable,” Jackson said. “It’s the domino effect, you know, one thing falls and then you’ll see a whole stretch of things begin to fall after that. Now, what that looks like for us, nobody knows, but I think you can see that there’s already been some major cases.”
Still, he doesn’t want to see any response by those in Lewis County motivated by fear.
“I recognize that we have to use extreme caution right now,” Jackson said. “That’s (fear) a monster that, once it gets rolling, it’s hard to stop. So, if we can approach things reasonably, with calmness, personally, I feel that this threat will end sooner rather than later and we’ll be able to get back to a level or normalcy the way we like to live life here in Lewis County.”
Jackson continued by calling residents of Lewis County “special people,” saying they’ve always been able to deal with adversity.
“We have always been able to rise up to the occasion and deal with whatever situation we’ve been faced with,” Jackson said. “There have been references made to the 2007 flood and how this community came together to overcome those challenges. They’ll do the same here. We’re used to having to deal with these sorts of things at times and Lewis Countians are always strong, they step up and they’ll do whatever’s necessary.”
He’s also calling on those of faith to pray.
“None of this caught God by surprise,” Jackson said. “He is ultimately going to bring about resolution to it in his own way. We have a strong faith-based community in Lewis County, so, when people pray, things happen.”
LCPHSS asks citizens to refer to the COVID-19 information tab on the Lewis County website for information. For those with further questions, call the Washington State Department of Health’s Public Questions Hotline at 1-800-525-0127 and press #. LCPHSS reminds citizens not to call 911 with general questions.
