Editor's Note: This is a new weekly editorial sent to us from the Columbia County Public Health DepartmentH providing updates for the COVID pandemic.

DAYTON–In Columbia County, the weather continues to tempt us to go out and enjoy the outdoors. Normally, we would be knee-deep in spring athletics, planning camping trips and we would be getting our water toys ready for summer.

One of spring's top activities is Yard Sales. We all love a good deal, but because of the following reasons, Yard/Garage Sales do NOT meet the Washington State "Stay at Home" order:

1. Yard/Garage Sales are not an essential service, according to Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee

2. Washington State "Stay at Home" order guidelines only include household members.

3. Six-foot social distancing rule is still in effect

4. A person can be A-Symptomatic (a symptom-free virus carrier) and be positive with COVID-19 without knowing it.

5. By touching sale items, even with gloves and following other protective measures, there is still a possibility of contamination.

Columbia County Public Health has, and will continue to provide daily informational updates via Facebook and our website and will make sure the information reflects most current data from the previous day. We want to assure the residents of Columbia County that we are doing all we can to keep our community safe and healthy during COVID-19. Please be patient Columbia County, by working together and staying home, we can combat COVID-19 together.