Whitman is one of three counties pushed back to Phase 2
By Terry Murry on Monday, April 12th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee is rolling back three counties to Phase 2 COVID-19 Healthy Washington metrics. The three are Whitman County, Pierce County, and Cowlitz County.
“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,” Inslee said in making the announcement.
In order to move down a phase, a county must fail both the metrics for the case counts and the one for hospitalizations. Previously counties would fall back if they failed either one of those two areas, but Inslee loosened the requirements late last week to require the demotion if both metrics are not met.
“It’s like a football game,” Inslee said. “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 next evaluation of counties will be on May 3.
