Three More Counties Now Eligible to Enter Phase 2 Of Reopening

WASHINGTON — Three more counties across Washington are now eligible to enter Phase 2 of Gov. Jay Inslee's Safe Start plan to reopen business as the coronavirus pandemic slowly comes under control.

Thursday afternoon, the state announced that Cowlitz, Grand and Pacific counties can now submit an application and will be considered to enter Phase 2 early. Before, 22 counties across Washington were eligible to submit a so-called "variance" application to enter the phase early. Ten of those counties have successfully applied: Asotin, Columbia, Garfield, Lincoln, Ferry, Pend Orielle, Skamania, Stevens, Wahkiakum, and Whitman counties.

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To enter Phase 2, originally a county had to have a population under 75,000 and no new coronavirus cases for the past three weeks. Tuesday the state loosened the restrictions to be more in line with Centers for Disease Control Guidance: now to qualify a county must have fewer than 10 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents over two weeks. To apply for a variance the county must receive approval from the local public health officer, the board of health, local hospitals, a county commission vote and more. The state says all those votes of confidence are necessary to make sure the county is aware of the severity of the move into Phase 2, and that they can react if there are any resulting coronavirus outbreaks.

After the county submits their application, it is received by the Secretary of Health who can then approve, modify or deny the application. Currently, only Kittitas County's application remains under review.

Entering Phase 2 allows a variety of businesses to go back to work, but with some limitations and social distancing requirements. Industries that can come back to work include restaurants, salons and retail stores. Restrictions on non-essential travel are also lifted to allow customers to travel to and from the reopened businesses.

Counties that cannot apply to enter Phase 2 early are expected to all enter Phase 2 around June 1, though Inslee notes that the day could be pushed back if there are any major setbacks.

Learn more about the county variance process here.

Review each Safe Start reopening phase here.