Weekly Briefing 12.4.20

 Lewis County Metrics

Cases in Lewis County continue to increase. Thanks to students, families, and staff, we have been able to continue to serve students on campus without needing to close. This is only possible because our families have been responsible and cautious when children have been exposed to someone who is infected and self-isolate. In addition, students have been very good about wearing masks and washing hands. (We are still working with them to stay 6' apart.) Research from schools indicates that schools aren't a significant source of community spread as long as these protocols are followed. We plan to continue serving students on campus unless otherwise directed. 

Our final group to return to on-campus instruction will be 9th-11th grade students who will come back to new classrooms at THS. We're still planning to move into the new classrooms during the holiday break and be ready for students on January 4.

Community Letter

It used to be that more people smoked cigarettes than do so now and smoking was common on airplanes, in restaurants and in office environments. In spite of people knowing that smoking was a health hazard, many felt it was their right and their choice to be able to smoke and to do so wherever they chose. There were protests, arguments and angry letters to the editor and people who were asked to leave when they chose to light up in public spaces after a long legislative battle to make that illegal. No one likes to be told to do things, even if those things might improve their health. The same was true for seatbelts, airbags, child labor, 40 hour work weeks and other things we now take for granted.

Today, we're all being asked to stay 6' apart, wear masks and be diligent about washing our hands in order to reduce the spread of the virus. These requests are for the health and safety of our communities and everyone is free to choose whether to do those things or not. While many folks choose to participate in this effort, many are opposed to it for a variety of reasons.

I serve on a workgroup that advises Lewis County Public Health on decisions related to school opening. Our work has been focused on returning students to on-campus instruction quickly and safely. We have been concerned about the effect of isolation on our children and the risks that remote instruction pose for the mental health of our kids. Lewis County is one of the most aggressive counties in our state in the return of students to on-campus instruction. Other counties and schools with lower infection rates are still fully remote in instruction. We're proud of this effort and others are beginning to observe that it is possible to do this well.

In order to continue this on-campus instruction, we need as many people as possible to participate in slowing the spread of the virus. If we can do this, I believe that we can continue to safely educate students on-campus and reduce the impact of the restrictions on the mental health of our kids. Our workgroup is asking everyone in the county to participate in this effort. This letter, endorsed by pediatricians, elected officials, pastors, and county and city officials will go out to the media. Whatever your opinions are about the Governor's mandates and national politics, I encourage you to participate in making sure that we can continue to safely educate students on campus. We're not asking that you agree with the Governor or his proclamations. We're only requesting that you do everything you can to reduce the spread of the virus.

Dear Lewis County 

We are so grateful for all of the love, care, and adaptability our community has demonstrated during these past 8 months of hardship that this pandemic has brought to our community, businesses, families and children.  We know this experience has impacted everyone differently.  Through this, one thing has become clear:  human beings are social creatures, and we need each other in order to flourish.  In isolation, we have seen increases in hopelessness, fear, anger, addictions, and a myriad of other concerns.    Many of our local children and families are in crisis.  Lewis County has observed increases in emergency department visits for mental health concerns and increases in suicide attempts.

Lewis County has a unique opportunity to rally around the children and families in our community.  We have emerged as a leader in a solutions-based approach to returning students to different levels of in-person learning while mitigating the risk to school staff and the community during this pandemic.  Since students have been returning to in person learning, there has not been an increase in school related transmission of coronavirus.  We are however, seeing an exponential increase in community transmission of the virus.  Hospitals and health care providers in our own community, are being stretched to capacity, not just in terms of bed space and medical supplies, but in terms of personnel to staff shifts, and caregivers’ levels of emotional and physical fatigue.

While it has been our privilege to attend to the medical, mental health, safety concerns, educational needs, food insecurity, housing and employment needs of our community, we cannot overcome these challenges without a concerted effort from ALL community members and leaders.   

We plead with you to please join our team in making children and their families a priority.  People need to maintain the recommended precautions for masking, social distancing, and curtailing social gatherings so that we can decrease virus transmission.  Only when the community acts together can children and families in Lewis County experience hope that schools can remain in person, hobbies can resume, businesses can remain open, and we can decrease isolation and hopelessness.

We, the undersigned endorse this message:

Rob Hill City Manager City of Centralia	Shane Schutz, Interim Superintendent, Napavine SD	Rachel C. Wood, M.D.,MPH Health Officer, Lewis County
Lisa Grant Superintendent Centralia School District	Christopher Clark Superintendent Boistfort School District	Chris Rust, Superintendent Toledo School District
Dr. Christine Moloney Superintendent  Chehalis School District	Toledo School Board: Jerad Buswell, President Monique Norberg Heidi Buswell Lance Maier Brad Dykstra	Nathan Coutsoubos Director White Pass Home Link
Chris Shumaker White Pass High School Principal Hospital Commissioner, Lewis County Hospital District 1	Paul J. Farris Ph.D. Superintendent White Pass School District	Dr. Bob Morbacher President Centralia College
Harrison Square Presbyterian Church: Pastors Ralph Carr, Mark McHugh	Northwest Pediatric Center providers:  Joe Wiley, MD, FAAP Jemima Tso, MD, FAAP  Lily Lo, MD, FAAP Aaron Dalan, MD, FAAP  Rowena Ramirez, MD, FAAP Jennifer Caserta MD FAAP   Jennifer Polley, MD, FAAP  George Tsao-Wu, MD, FAAP Maria Huang, MD, FAAP  David Russell, MD, FAAP,MPH Chris Nelson,MD, FAAP Dana Shepherd, ARNP, CPNP Rebekah Miner, ARNP, CPNP, MHP Therese Henry, ARNP, CPNP Icel Sullivan, DNP, CPNP Margie Nielsen, DNP, CPNP-AC, FNP   Chief Stacy Denham Chief of Police Centralia Police Department   Gather Church Pastors Cole Meckel, Patty Howard	Rich Staley Oakville School District #400 Superintendent
Jeff Davis, Superintendent, Onalaska School District		Laura Ebinger, BS, CIC Preeti Kondal, DO Angela Dickson, MN, RN, CIC, FAPIC Infection Prevention & Antimicrobial Consultants, LLC (IPAC)
Brian Maley, Principal, Onalaska High School		Fred Terry Winlock School Board
Mary Glenn, Onalaska School Board Chair		Kyle MacDonald, Superintendent Pe Ell and Evaline School Districts
Kevin Caserta, MD Site Administrator, Providence Centralia Hospital CMO, Acute Ministries Providence SW WA		Jim Forrest Superintendent, Adna School District
Sheila Holter Toledo Middle School Principal		Colleen State President, Chehalis School Board
Pam Kinsman Onalaska School Board		Amy Morris President PSE Toledo
Tracie Cannon President Toledo Education Association		Brennan Bailey Chehalis School Board