Yakima Times

Due to the declining coronavirus case rate in Yakima County, the Yakima Health District has recommended that school districts consider a return to in-person learning as early as Oct. 12.

The Washington State Department of Health benchmark for in-person hybrid learning is 75 cases per 100,000 people in the past 14 days. As of Aug. 4, Yakima Health District advised schools to implement distance learning because the county case rate was 339 per 100,000 people per 14 days and there were 30 hospitalizations due to COVID-19. As of September 24, the number has stabilized at 95-115 cases per 100,000 people per 14 days with hospitilization rates between nine and 14 daily according to a release from the City of Yakama.

Yakima Health District recommends taking advantage of the achievements made in the community in reducing and stabilizing case counts. On Sept. 25, Yakima Health District sent a letter to local school officials asking that they consider allowing in-person instruction for grades K-5 as early as October 12. Middle schoolers could return for a hybrid learning schedule as early as Nov. 2 and high schoolers could return as early as Nov. 23. 

All of these reopenings are dependent on the case rate and hospitalization rate remaining stable. Schools must observe all safety regulations, including wearing face coverings, cohorting students, performing daily health screenings, enforcing hand washing and social distancing, frequent sanitation and referring potential coronavirus cases to the Yakima Health Department.

Remote learning options will be provided to families of students who are at high risk of infection or who judge the risks of in-person learning to be too great.