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Gov. Jay Inslee announced changes in metrics and methods Thursday as he outlined preparations to move into Phase 3 of his Healthy Washington – Roadmap to Recovery plan for fighting COVID-19 in Washington.
“On March 22 we take one more step in beating the virus and reopening our economy,” the governor told an afternoon press conference.
The new rules are scheduled to go into effect in about 10 days. Mask wearing and social distancing are still required, but some pandemic restrictions will be eased, allowing restaurants and other businesses to double occupancy, from 25% to 50%, for example. Spectators also will be allowed to attend outdoor venues with permanent seating with capacity capped at 25%. The change affects both professional and high school sports, as well as motorsports, rodeos, and other outdoor spectator events.
Snohomish County – like the rest of the state – has been in Phase 2 for much of a month while the governor has worked with state and local leaders to develop rules for a Phase 3 that could allow more movement, socialization and commerce while also protecting recent gains against the virus, which has already killed more than 5,000 in the state, including more than 500 in Snohomish County.
Starting March 22, all counties will move into Phase 3. To stay there, Snohomish County must continue to keep COVID case rates below 200 per 100,000 population (the rate currently is 84 cases per 100,000), and to maintain a seven-day rolling average of less than five new COVID hospitalizations per 100,000 population.
The first scheduled check in under the plan is April 12, with reviews coming every three weeks. A county that fails to maintain all the metrics can be moved back a phase. Unlike the earlier version of the Roadmap plan, progress fighting COVID now will be monitored on a county-by-county basis instead of being tracked across multi-county regions.
Currently, there are no plans to use vaccination rates as a metric. While more than 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered statewide, supply continues to lag far behind demand.
The governor announced that starting March 17, everyone in Phase 1B2 of the state’s vaccination plan will be eligible for COVID vaccine. That is five days earlier than was planned.
Those who will become eligible for vaccine include workers in agriculture, food processing, grocery stores, public transit and public safety. The list also includes people over the age of 16 who are pregnant or have a disability that puts them at high-risk.
The governor said that even though more people will soon be eligible for vaccination that does not mean those who earlier had access but didn’t get an appointment have somehow lost their shot. Inslee urged those 65 and older to get vaccinated if they desire. He said more than 60% of people in that age group already have been vaccinated.
“This is another tremendous step forward in our fight against the pandemic,” Inslee said.
See the governor’s Medium page for more information or the Snohomish Health District press release for more details about changes coming under Phase 3 of the recovery plan.
Gov. Jay Inslee on Friday said he is declaring a mental health emergency for young people in Washington, and he plans to release an emergency proclamation mandating all schools to offer more opportunities for in-person instruction.
Under the proclamation, schools will be required to provide in-person instruction for all students who want it, at least twice a week for a total of at least eight to 10 hours.
Schools teaching Kindergarten to 6th grade must be offering in-person instruction opportunities – likely as part of some form of hybrid learning – by no later than April 15. Schools teaching students from 7th to 12th grade have until April 19.
Inslee said he’s convinced that the data show schools can safely reopen, with precautions, and that students’ mental health is suffering from prolonged isolation from teachers and peers.
Chris Reykdal, the state Superintendent of Public Instruction, joined the governor in a virtual press conference to say that he supports taking emergency action. Many young people in Washington are struggling to make academic progress during the pandemic. Indeed, he said, one of every four high school students in the state is currently failing or will not be getting credit for one or more classes.
Dr. Nwando Anyaoku, chief health equity officer for Swedish, Seattle, echoed the governor’s concerns.
“This mental health crisis is a real and present danger to a whole generation,” and is hitting young people in marginalized communities particularly hard, she said.
Inslee said his proclamation will require that schools develop plans to offer in-person and remote-learning options, and he expects funding to come in part from the $2.6 billion in pandemic relief made available to schools under the American Rescue Plan approved by Congress earlier this week.
For more information, watch the announcement.
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