COVID restrictions loosen in WA
By Terry Murry on Friday, March 19th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
OLYMPIA – All counties in Washington move to Phase 3 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s reopening plan on Monday. That includes opening restaurants and bars to 50 percent capacity instead of 25. Meanwhile, in Franklin County, health officials warn that it’s already in danger of being moved down to Phase 2 again when the state collects new data, mainly due to its low vaccination rate.
Inslee announced some updates to COVID-19 guidelines later Thursday. He extended the statewide moratorium on evictions through June 30. He expanded vaccine eligibility to include restaurant workers and state residents 60 and older. He also announced that effective immediately, visitations at long-term care facilities may resume.
Those in-person visits to long-term care facilities and nursing homes should be held outdoors. However, indoor visitations are permitted for residents and visitors who have been fully vaccinated.
It’s estimated there are 3 million people that are now eligible for vaccination, with another 2 million by the end of the month.
In addition to expanding vaccination eligibilities, Inslee said the Washington Department of Health has launched a new web took to help people find open vaccination appointments near them. The web tool looks at various scheduling options from multiple providers to find vaccination appointments. It is available in multiple languages and is another example of the state partnering with private companies to bring innovations to the process.
“It’s another great day to be from Washington state,” Inslee said at the news conference. “From protecting people’s housing to helping people see their loved ones and getting more Washingtonians vaccinated, we’re continuing to move forward toward recovery.”
