Kittitas County Public Health Officer Dr. Mark Larson has directed the City of Ellensburg to close Irene Rineheart Riverfront Park due to increased numbers of COVID-19 cases in the county. This includes Carey Lake, often called People’s Pond. 

The park will remain closed until Kittitas County returns to 25 cases per 100,000 residents in accordance with Larson’s direction. This was the number required for Kittitas County to enter phase three of Gov. Jay Inslee’s phased reopening plan. 

Currently, the county has 118 cases per 100,000 residents. On average, 12 cases are being reported to the county’s Incident Management Team (IMT) per day.

The reopening of the park will be reevaluated by the IMT on a weekly basis. 

As of July 15, Kittitas County has 47 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19, with 245 tests pending results. Of the county’s total 226 confirmed cases, 179 are considered recovered. The county reports zero deaths related to COVID-19. All data is pulled from the Kittitas County Community Impact Dashboard.