The Kittitas County Incident Management Team (IMT) is receiving multiple inquiries regarding the possibility of additional businesses in Kittitas County being affected by the recent outbreak at Twin City Foods. At this time, the IMT has not yet identified any additional or potential outbreaks and is not coordinating with any additional businesses for outbreak response.
However, with an increase in COVID-19 there is an increase for potential exposures and the situation in Kittitas County may change quickly; the IMT is working rapidly to address this containment issue. Businesses must have safety plans in place, which also address containing a COVID-19 outbreak. Safety plan worksheets are available on the incident webpage at www.co.kittitas.wa.us.
Safety plan elements provide for protection from a scenario such as this outbreak. If your establishment and employees followed protocols in place around staying home when sick, providing physical distancing, masking, and increased hand-washing and sanitizing, then the risk is minimized that someone who may have been exposed can continue to expose others.
Close contacts of Twin City Foods employees are already in either isolation or quarantine. If a business is concerned that an employee had close contact (within six feet for ten minutes or more or had direct contact with secretions from a person with confirmed COVID-19), with someone who has COVID-19, please encourage your employee to monitor for symptoms such as fever, cough, or shortness of breath. Individuals that have questions as to whether they should be tested should contact their personal healthcare provider or the Temporary COVID Clinic at KVH.
COVID-19 testing is reportable per a health order and positive COVID-19 test results are required by law to be sent to Kittitas County Public Health, so our IMT is aware of current cases that are positive along with possible contacts. “Businesses are not required to notify the Kittitas IMT if an employee tests positive and they take actions as a result, but we are here to provide assistance to our business community if they request help or guidance,” states Health Officer Mark Larson. “Having a safety plan prepared and in place is going to reduce the workload for the IMT while we respond to the current situation.”
If you have questions about your health, please contact your healthcare provider or you can call the Temporary COVID Clinic at KVH at 509-933-8850. If you are having a medical emergency, call 911 or go to the Emergency Department at KVH. If you have general questions about COVID-19, please call the EOC at 509-933-8315 or 509-933-8305.
Kittitas County, from the Cascades to the Columbia, and online at http://www.co.kittitas.wa.us
