(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

The NE Tri County Health District announced today it would no longer be able to complete close contact follow ups, due to the surge in COVID-19 cases in Ferry, Pend Oreille and Stevens County.

“The recent surge has outpaced the ability for Northeast Tri County Health District (NETCHD) staff to conduct contact tracing for close contacts,” the health district said in a press release. “At this time, NETCHD staff are focusing on contacting positive cases, but we are not able to complete close contact follow ups.” More

(RICK BANNAN/Centralia Chronicle)

Governor Jay Inslee

Inslee remarks that Nov. 15 was “the most dangerous public health day in over 100 years in our state’s great history.”

A number of businesses will have to restrict operations as part of a new set of orders issued by Gov. Jay Inslee intended to stop the “third wave” of COVID-19 in the state. It’s an executive action similar, but smaller in scope, to the initial “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order put in place at the start of the pandemic. During a rare Sunday morning press conference Nov. 15, Inslee announced several new restrictions ranging from banning indoor restaurant and bar service to more requirements on religious services.

The orders are currently set to run for four weeks. The restrictions generally prohibit indoor operations of a number of business types and activities, or impose capacity restrictions on others, including retail. Under the new restrictions, indoor social gatherings with individuals outside of one’s household were prohibited in most cases, unless an individual quarantined for 14 days prior to the gathering, or seven days before if they received a negative COVID-19 test result fewer than 48 hours before the gathering. Outdoor gatherings are limited to five people. More

(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

LOG ON: City gets new website with new look, easier navigation and more features…

The City of Chewelah has a new website with a bevy of new features. After many months of work, cityofchewelah.org has been updated to handle a variety of municipal tasks online.

Former City Councilwoman Cori Wuesthoff pushed a new website, and after approved and budgeted by the City Council, Mayor Assistant Brenda Stroyan and Mayor Knauss have been working on the task with webdesigners since last November.

The previous website was created half a decade ago, and while functional and informative, Stroyan said it could not be expanded upon. Oregon-based Municode, which specializes in government websites, provided the city with what Stroyan called “ a simple, user-friendly template along with integrating some of the components we felt were essential in meetings the needs of Chewelah. The website is now ADA compliant for the visually impaired and easier to navigate.” More

(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

More cases are piling up in NE Washington for COVID-19, as Chewelah saw additional positive tests for the virus that has shuttered the nations economy and has been responsible for the death of nearly a quarter of a million people.

Health officials said available hospital beds in the region are down to a few for each facility. Staffing is an issue as traveling nurses and healthcare workers are in great demand as high demand of them are needed throughout the country. Because of this, health district officials are pleading with the public to follow social distancing, mask guidelines and staying home when they’re sick. More

(RICK BANNAN/CENTRALIA CHRONICLE)

State in ‘third wave’ of disease activity ahead of holiday season…

Gov. Jay Inslee made a plea to Washingtonians not to gather with others outside of their households for the holiday season, noting that further measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 would be coming shortly as a “third wave” of the disease appears to be hitting the state.

Inslee, joined by his wife, Trudi, gave an address Nov. 12 ahead of Thanksgiving, urging those thinking about bringing in family and loved ones from outside of their households or going somewhere else for the holiday to reconsider.

“Simply put, we have to rethink these holidays,” Inslee said, “so that we may be thankful when we don’t lose more lives to COVID.”

More

(PRESS RELEASE/COLVILLE NATIONAL FOREST) 

Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area may implement the following pile burns during the fall of 2020. More

(STAFF REPORTS/Chewelah Independent)

The Chewelah School Board is holding a special school board meeting tonight on Zoom, which is open for the public to watch.

Here is the Zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87231126964

Here is the agenda for the Chewelah School Board meeting…

More

(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

On Wednesday, NE Tri County Health District reported 13 new cases including a new case in Chewelah. This bumps the town’s pandemic total to 10 cases, which is significantly lower than any other city in NE Washington.

Gess Elementary also sent out notice yesterday that someone at the school building in Chewelah had tested positive.

There have been a total of 90 new cases of COVID-19 in Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille County reported in the past two weeks. Wednesday’s new case number for Stevens County was 11, among the highest reported since the pandemic started. More