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Thursday, March 5, 2020
7 "We’re assuming it’s already
in the community’
prepares for
' (OVID- 79, Health
into action
By Michael Heinbach
michae/@masoncounty. com
Mason County Community Services
Director Dave Windom is helping form
the community’s preparations for the‘
. global outbreak of CQVID-19, the dis-
ease caused by the novel coronavirus.
On Tuesday
1 morning at com-
mission chambers
in - Shelton, Win-
dom spoke to a
gathering of Mason
County govern-
ment department
heads and
officials to outline
Mason County Pub-
lic Health’s plans to
combat the possible spread of the new
‘virus, thought to have initially spread
through person-to-person contact in
China.
“As of Friday, we’ve set up‘an inci—
dent command system through Pub-
lic Health, and starting Monday, we
Windom
started doing daily updates at 8:30 .
in the morning, and we’re roughly
holding those until this thing scales
back down,” Windom told county of-
ficials.
SHELTON-MASON couer
elected
8-85 5—15
urnal
The Voice of Mason County Since 1886 — Vol. 134, No. 10
OFFICIALS GEAR UP FOR COROVNAVIRUS
He went onto add the county has a I —*
supply of 5,000 respiratory masks, and
that’Maso'n County Public Health Of-
ficer Dr. Daniel Stein is on call, avail-
able by phone, text and email.
Windom told those gathered his
incident command team —— composed
of Stein, county Community and Fam-
ily Health Manager Lydia Buchheit,
Environmental Health Manager Alex
Paysse, Public Health Finance Manag-
er Casey Bingham, Permit Assistance
Center Manager Kristopher Nelsen
and Public Health Clerk Sunni Evans
— in order to be best prepared is act-
ing on the presumption that the virus
has spread to Mason County, though
no confirmed local cases were reported
as of Tuesday evening.
, “We’re assuming, and this is 'for
planning purposes, but we’re assum-
ing it’s already in the community,”
Windom said. “We assume that the
first diagnosed case (locally) will‘
s. a. .vfigirifihh ._ ,___... sun, is 7,...“ 7.,
see COUNTY, page A-12
ABOVE: Jessica Thomas, a custodian for the Shelton School District,
'sCrubs walls Tuesday morning inside M6untain \fiew Elementary School.
The Shelton School District closed the school for the day for a thorough
cleaning after learning a staff member's spouse was a responder to the
Life
Care Center in Kirkand. Seven people linked to the nursing facility have
died
in the COVlD-19 outbreak, and the responder is under quarantine. BELOW:
Mountain Wew Elementary School Principal Mary Johnson tells students
the school is closed for the day. Journal photos by Gordon Weeks
“We could have
just done a
surface'clean
but if we’re
going to do
it, let’sdo it
right.”
Maiy Johnson,
Mountain View
Elementary School
principal
*ii’iliii’
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SMALL TOWN PAPERS
927 W RATLROAD AVE
SHELTON WA, 985843847
$1.50 ‘
Virus threotprompts
7—day Mountain View
Elementary School closure
By Gordon Weeks»
gordon@masoncounty.com
Mountain View Elementary School
in Shelton was closed and cleaned
Tuesday after the Shelton School Dis-
trict learned a staff member’s husband
. was an emergency responder to. CO-
VID-19 victims at Life Care Center in
Kirkland, where seven people had died
from the outbreak as of Wednesday.
The school reopened Wednesday
morning.
The Mary M. Knight School District
also cleaned its elementary school
building Mondayand Tuesday after
learning a staff member had been in
contact with her daughter who works
at Mountain View Elementary and
whose husband was a first responder
in Kirkland. That staff member has
been quarantined at her house despite
showing no symptoms, the district
stated in a letter to parents and staff.
On Tuesday afternoon, Mason
County health officials provided up-
dates and advice on facing the out-
break to about 60 administrators
and teachers from throughout Mason
County in a classroom at Olympic
Middle School.
No cases of COVID—19 have been re-
ported in Mason County as of Wednes-
day morning.
“We’re just filled with uncertainty,”
Mountain View Elementary Principal
Mary Johnson said Tuesday morning
in front of the school. “I think it’s im—
portant we take every precaution we
can take. .There’s nothing more im-
portant than our students’ and staffs
healt .”
Word of the school closure went out
on social media, including the school’s
Facebook page and on the school dis-
trict website. The message was read
and heard: only three of the school’s
547 students Ishowed up at the door
without receiving the closure message,
Johnson said.
“I’m impressed with the
community’s support of the decisions
we made Almost everyone has been
wonderfully understanding on what
we’re doing,” she said.
The cleaning began as soon as
see SCHOOLS, page A-13
' INSIDE TODAY
"53263
00111
Mason Healthunveils
new.,Shelton clinic
Page A-2
North Mason superintendent
finalist for new job
Page A—21
Shelton High School
football coach resigns
Page B—1