Josh Kerns, Mary L. Kuney and Al French: Spokane County fair was run safely

We would like to publicly thank all the staff of the Spokane County Interstate Fair, all the Health District staff that coordinated with fair employees, and of course all the members of the community who attended the 70th annual fair. Together, we proved that it is possible in this COVID-19 era to put on a safe, fun and family-friendly event.

On Sept. 15, a guest opinion authored by several health care professionals was published in The Spokesman-Review (“People’s lives put in jeopardy for thrill of fair,” John McCarthy, M.D.; Darryl Potyk, M.D.; and Michael J Ryan, M.D.). This article questioned the safety of hosting this year’s Spokane County Interstate Fair. The authors also called into the question the judgment and integrity of the Spokane County Board of Commissioners and the county health officer. The authors tried their best to paint the fair as a reckless, even deadly, event to attend. Instead of acknowledging the real and serious efforts to follow state and county health guidance to ensure a safe and low-risk event, the authors chose to use fear in their attempt to dissuade people from attending the fair.

While some of our region’s largest events were canceled, many events went ahead as planned, including the state fair in Puyallup. It took place for three full weeks in September, with indoor music concerts with 10,000-plus attendees, hockey games, large conventions and meetings, and dozens of college and high school football games with thousands of attendees. Where was the outrage over these events? If the county’s interstate fair was such a threat to public health, why have all other large-scale events gone unnoticed and uncriticized?

It has been over a month since the fair concluded and to date, there have been no deaths associated with the fair and only two cases that may have been linked countywide. We did not see the doomsday scenario that was described in the other opinion piece. In fact, we’ve seen a reduction in cases, hospitalizations and deaths since the fair opened in mid-September, and more than 112,000 people attended the fair over 10 days. The fair means something different to many people. For some, the fair is a cherished family tradition. For others, it’s the culmination of a year or more of hard work. We received twice as many messages of praise than criticism for moving forward.

During this pandemic, we have been told at the national and local levels to “follow the science” and “trust health officials.” That is exactly what Spokane County did. Spokane County staff took every possible precaution to ensure a safe and healthy environment for our attendees, and the data shows that these measures worked. Our fair staff worked closely with, and followed guidance from, the Washington state Department of Health and the Spokane Regional Health District to ensure the well-being of our attendees, employees and vendors.

Some specific examples of their collaboration: Following Gov. Inslee’s outdoor mask mandate, we provided and required masks for attendees to wear indoors and outdoors, with constant reminders over the loudspeakers. With over 97 acres to spread out and an understanding that outdoor transmission is much lower when people can socially distance, we felt comfortable in our ability to follow guidelines provided by public health officials. We added additional seating areas that were spread out for eating and reconfigured building layouts with more room for vendors and exhibits.

Touchless water faucets were installed in restrooms and hand-sanitizing stations were installed throughout the property. Carnival rides were frequently sanitized throughout the day, and attendees were encouraged to visit the fair on less busy weekdays as an alternative to busier weekends if they wanted to avoid larger crowds. All grandstand events were reduced to half capacity. In addition, fair staff partnered with the state department of health to host two vaccine clinics at this year’s fair.

We will continue to support community events that have precautions in place recommended by public health officials, as they were at this year’s Spokane County Interstate Fair.

Josh Kerns, chair, Mary L. Kuney, vice chair, and Al French, commissioner.