If Spokane County continues to see the same level of COVID-19 activity and increased hospitalizations, the region could be moved back to Phase 2 in May.

Data released by the Spokane Regional Health District on Tuesday show that if the county were evaluated by the governor’s recovery plan benchmarks today, Spokane County would have too high a case rate and too many new hospitalizations to stay in Phase 3.

The county case rate is 273 cases per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks, and that number must remain at 200 or lower for the region to stay in Phase 2.

Hospitalizations have also increased in the past seven days, for a one-week average of 5.2 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents. That’s up from 3.6 per 100,000.

Large counties must have fewer than 5 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the past week in order to stay in Phase 3.

There is still time for residents to drive rates down in the coming weeks. Spokane County, along with all counties in the state, will next be evaluated on May 3.

The Idaho Panhandle also continues to see steady, but not as high, rates of COVID-19 in the five counties there.

The five-county region has a two-week case rate of 163 cases per 100,000 residents, according to the Panhandle Health District.

Here’s a look at local numbersThe Spokane Regional Health District reported 143 new cases on Tuesday, and eight new COVID-related deaths were confirmed last week in the county.

There are now 598 confirmed deaths due to COVID-19 in Spokane County residents.

There are 56 patients hospitalized with the virus in Spokane.

The Panhandle Health District confirmed 21 new virus cases and no new deaths on Tuesday.

There are 33 Panhandle residents hospitalized with the virus.