On February 10, 2021 the Yakima Health District was notified of several staff and inmates who tested positive at the Yakima County Jail. An investigation was conducted to identify all close contacts to the individuals, including inmates and staff. Additionally, further testing was conducted. The Yakima Health District conducted a site visit last week and … Continued
The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) issued a reminder about the safe re-opening of buildings that may have been closed for an extended period of time due to COVID-19 related restrictions – Reminders for safe building re-openings after COVID-19 closures > Washington State Department of Health The entire state of Washington is in Phase … Continued
This morning the Yakima Health District received a letter from the Washington State Department of Health (WDOH) clarifying that the South Central Region has met the metrics required to move into Phase 2 of the Healthy Washington Roadmap to Recovery effective February 14, 2021. On Thursday, it was announced that the South Central Region would … Continued
During yesterday’s Board of Health meeting, staff from the Yakima Health District and Board of Health members heard various comments from community leaders and the public regarding the reopening of schools. During the meeting, YHD staff were directed to work with school administrators on developing solutions for a safe return of students for in-person learning … Continued
Yakima County continues to receive additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines. As of January 26, 2020, local partners have administered COVID-19 vaccine to 11,082 individuals. 1,988 of those have received their 2nd dose. These numbers do not include doses that have been administered to staff and residents of long-term care facilities through the Federal Pharmacy Partnership. … Continued
Yakima County continues to receive additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines. As of January 7, 2021 Yakima, County has received 7,700 doses of both Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine. Of these 7,700, 5,750 were initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and 1,950 are boosters for providers who already received their first vaccine three weeks ago. Of … Continued
The United States Department of Justice has recognized and awarded Raymond F. Fleck, Supervisory Deputy Marshal (ret.), U.S. Marshals Service, for his Outstanding Individual Contribution to the U.S. Attorney’s Office-sponsored Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Initiative in the Eastern District of Washington. PSN is a critical piece of the Department’s crime reduction efforts. The program focuses … Continued
Dr. Larry Jecha, MD, MPH, has been chosen to join the Yakima Health District as Interim Health Officer. Dr. Jecha currently serves as the Health Officer for Walla Walla County Department of Community Health, as well Garfield and Columbia Counties. He previously served as the Health Officer at the Benton-Franklin Health District for 23 years … Continued
Governor Inslee announced additional safety measures to be implemented beginning Monday, November 16 at 11:59 PM and will remain in effect until Monday, December 14. The modified restrictions of restaurants, however, will take effect Wednesday, November 18 at 12:01 AM. These additional safety measures were announced in response to dramatic increases in COVID-19 activity as … Continued
Results from the first week of testing at the Yakima State Fair Park indicate that the testing site is helping detect more positive cases of COVID-19 in the community. Since opening last week, the site has performed over 800 tests, with 12% of those being positive for COVID-19. The free testing site operates Tuesday to … Continued
