WENATCHEE — Gov. Jay Inslee and local health officials announced Tuesday morning that the state will set up a COVID-19 incident command team in Chelan and Douglas counties.
The incident command team was established due to the high infection rate in Chelan and Douglas counties, Inslee said during a news conference Tuesday morning at Wenatchee Valley College. Both Chelan and Douglas have infection rates hovering around 500 people per 100,000 over a two-week period, among the highest in the state.
“That’s frankly the reason we came because this is one of the hot spots in the state of Washington,” Inslee said. “And it is the place we are most concerned about. It is a beautiful valley full of beautiful folks.”
The incident command team will assist the Chelan-Douglas Health District with managing the pandemic, Chelan-Douglas Health Officer Malcolm Butler said. The National Guard has also been deployed in North Central Washington to assist with testing, starting in Bridgeport today, Butler said.
They will continue testing into Chelan and Manson later this week, he said.
