Thurston County moves to entirely remote public meetings due to Omicron surge
Because of the surge in COVID-19 cases, residents will not be allowed to attend Thurston County public meetings in person as of Wednesday.
The Board of County Commissioners decided to move to remote meetings on Tuesday to protect community health during an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases.
“This is obviously not where we wanted to be two years into the pandemic,” Commissioner Carolina Mejia said in a county news release. “But we have to continue to adapt our way of doing business.”
The 2-1 decision effectively closes Room 280 in Building 1 of the Lakeridge Drive campus in Olympia. All county offices will remain open for now, but residents are encouraged to access services online or by phone if possible.
COVID-19 disease activity has been increasing at an alarming rate over the past month. Last week, the county confirmed a record high six deaths and 3,632 cases — about 1,500 more cases than the previous week.
In the news release, Mejia said ending the in-person option for public meetings will help stem the spread of the more transmissible Omicron variant.
“While the mass closures we saw at the beginning of the pandemic are not well suited at this point in the pandemic, not only for economic reasons but also our collective and emotional well-being, there are steps we can take to mitigate the rapid spread of this new variant,” Mejia said.
On Tuesday, County Manager Ramiro Chavez said the board will revisit this decision by Feb. 8 if not sooner.
Commissioner Tye Menser first floated the idea of moving to remote meetings during a Jan. 3 meeting. At Tuesday’s meeting, he said he felt uncomfortable allowing in-person public meetings with Omicron activity surging and some attendees refusing to wear masks.
“I think we’ve seen after a year and a half that the public is not particularly diligent about how they wear their masks in the boardroom,” Menser said. “If they were, then I’d feel differently.”
Menser said he did not want the board to be responsible for enforcing masking rules during public meetings.
Commissioner Gary Edwards opposed the decision, downplaying the severity of the Omicron variant and calling on the board return to normalcy.
“I think we need to recognize that this Omicron virus is not the nasty critter that its predecessors have been, and we need to learn to get along and live through this,” Edwards said. “I think we’re making a terrible mistake and it’s a disservice to the public to start closing down government.”
Thurston County’s hospitalization rate spiked to a record high 22 per 100,000 people from Dec. 27 to Jan. 2. This rate surpassed the previous record of 19.9 which was recorded from Aug. 20-26 around the time Delta variant infections were at their highest.
About 98.3% of new COVID-19 infections from Jan. 2-8 were caused by the Omicron variant. It’s still unclear to what extent Omicron infections may cause more or less severe illness than previous variants, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
However, the CDC notes COVID-19 vaccines continue to protect against severe illness, hospitalizations and deaths due to Omicron infections.
Residents who wish to attend Thurston County public meetings virtually can register online by visiting the county’s agenda web page. For public hearings, residents can register on a separate page.
The public also can call in to meetings by dialing 360-252-9020 and entering 1234.
This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 1:37 PM.
