The Kittitas County Incident Management Team (IMT) has seen additional positive cases associated with the Twin City Foods Inc. outbreak. To date, Kittitas County has 64 total confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Forty-nine of the 64 cases are related to the outbreak in our county. All patients continue to be stable and there are no hospitalizations at this time.

The IMT is working daily to make one-on-one connections with people who have tested positive. Those conversations last anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half, which includes questions about how the patient is feeling, who the patient may have come into contact with while infectious, and any needs the individual has in order to stay home. Thank you to Twin City Foods personnel who have helped us work to contain the outbreak.

Twin City Foods, Inc. has worked closely with the IMT to address safety moving forward and will be reopening on May 19. Per the IMT, Twin City Foods will now require masking of all employees moving forward. Only employees who have tested negative and do not have other Twin City Food employees in the household will be allowed to return to work today.

“We are seeing that the amount of people wearing masks in a community is having more impact on limiting the spread of COVID-19,” states Health Officer Dr. Mark Larson. “So, all employees will be required to wear a mask at Twin City Foods moving forward. The safety plan in place is a quality plan and only had the addition of masking.”

Safety plans and coordinating with businesses in the future will assist the county in continuing to move forward while reopening the economy. All businesses must have a safety plan per the local Kittitas County Health Order. Health order information is available at https://www.co.kittitas.wa.us/response/202003-covid19/default.aspx along with Business Safety Plan Worksheets and Technical Assistance.

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