Gov. Jay Inslee announced Monday the rollback of Pierce, Cowlitz and Whitman counties back to Phase 2 for failing to meet the Phase 3 metrics for reopening.
“These metric trends are driven by the virus and we must continue to do everything we can to sharpen our focus and keep COVID-19 activity down. We are so close to the end of the tunnel here - we have made tremendous progress and we must keep our focus,” Inslee said. “It’s like a football game; we have done 95 yards on a 99 yard-drive. We can’t let up now. These are not punitive actions; they are to save lives and protect public health.”
The remaining 36 counties will remain in phase 3 of the reopening plan, meaning their indoor spaces can operate at 50% capacity.
On Friday, Inslee loosened some of the requirements to make it easier for counties to remain in phase 3 of the reopening plan.
>> State changes rules, fewer counties to return to phase 2
To stay in phase 3, counties need to have fewer than 200 COVID-19 cases per 100,00 residents in two weeks and fewer than five new hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in a week.
Counties have to fail both of these metrics to get rolled back.
A group of nearly 70 organizations around the state wrote a letter to Inslee over the weekend urging him to put a pause on any phase rollbacks for three weeks, arguing it would be too detrimental to businesses.