WA reopening now based on regions, not counties
By Terry Murry on Thursday, January 7th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee’s “Healthy Washington – Roadmap to Recovery” plan for COVID-19 will no longer issue restrictions on a county-by-county basis. Instead, Inslee has divided the state into regions and placed all those regions in Phase 1 of a two-phase reopening plan.
Walla Walla County is in the South Central Region along with Columbia, Benton, Franklin, Kittitas, and Yakima counties. The East Region is comprised of Asotin, Garfield, Adams, Ferry, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, and Whitman counties.
To go from Phase 1 to Phase 2, the entire region must meet four metrics. They must show a decreasing two-week trend in the rate of cases per 100,000 population of less than 10 percent, a decreasing two week trend in new hospital admissions per 100,000 of less than 10 percent, less than 90 percent of intensive care unit occupancy total (a combination of both COVID-19 and other patients), and have a COVID-19 positivity rate of less than 10 percent.
Once in Phase 2, regions must meet at least two or more of the above metrics to stay there. The first two requirements change to having either a decreasing or flat trend instead of just a decreasing one.
Under Phase 1, social and in-home indoor gatherings are prohibited. Outdoor gatherings are limited to 10 people from two households. Worship services are allowed at 25 percent of the capacity. Indoor service is prohibited in restaurants and bars.
The complete list of what is allowed under both Phase 1 and Phase 2 is available at https://medium.com/wagovernor/inslee-announces-healthy-washington-roadmap-to-recovery-229b880a6859.
