From the Kittitas County Public Health Department:
Kittitas County, WA – 03/11/2020 – “The Kittitas County Public Health Department (KCPHD) was notified of a third positive test result for COVID-19 in our county. The third patient is male and 56 years old. At this time, the third positive test result appears to be unrelated to the two previous cases.
The 67 year old female is in stable health and will continue to be monitored by KCPHD.  The close family contact that had the second positive test result is also in stable health.

“KCPHD is recommending the public focus on social distancing.  Social distancing means avoiding being within six feet of someone for periods of ten minutes or more.  People should maintain social distancing and people in vulnerable health categories should avoid situations where distancing is not possible.  At this time, we are not recommending cancellation of school.  ‘Individuals from other, more affected areas are not regularly interacting with our school students during the day, so the consequences of canceling school would not outweigh the benefit of disease prevention,’ states Health Officer Dr. Mark Larson.  ‘We are asking people in vulnerable health categories to avoid extracurricular school activities.’

“Kittitas County communities are understandably concerned about the contact history of our positive patients, and KCPHD wants to reassure the public that all known contacts have been and will continue to be notified. The majority of close contacts of the County’s first two patients occurred outside of Kittitas County.

“With community spread, the public is voicing concern about what they should do when sick or if they should get tested.  The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) website has guidelines about what you should do if you’re sick, if you’ve been exposed, and if you have a positive test results.  Please visit www.doh.wa.gov for more information.

“We will continue to provide updates and please continue to watch our county website along with our social media for more information today atwww.co.kittitas.wa.us or Facebook.