Inslee announces two-week pause on reopening rollbacks

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All counties in Washington state received a two-week reprieve from potential rollbacks in the state’s COVID-19 reopening plan as Gov. Jay Inslee announced the most up-to-date data showing reason for a pause given a potential plateau of disease activity.

During a May 4 press conference the governor made the announcement on the day that ostensibly counties would see if they met metrics to remain at their current phases in the state’s “Healthy Washington” plan. 

Inslee said the decision to pause phase changes was based on data state officials were able to analyze in the past few days. Although epidemiologists in the state have noticed a “fourth wave” of COVID-19 activity in the past few weeks, the most recent data suggested the activity may be plateauing, he said.

Public Health - Seattle & King County Director Jeff Duchin said other parts of the country experiencing a fourth wave also appear to be reaching a plateau of activity.

“A two-week pause recognizes new information about our local disease trends, and provides time to see more reliably which direction we’re heading in, and whether we’re turning a corner on a fourth wave, which we very well may be,” Duchin said.

Had rollbacks occurred, Clark County would have barely avoided moving back to Phase 2 based on data from Clark County Public Health that day. In their weekly case rate update, the county had moved to 250 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past 14 days, up from 198.1 per 100,000 population the prior week. The county’s current rate crossed over the 200 per 100,000 population threshold for moving back to Phase 2, though the county’s recent rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations was 3.8 per 100,000 population in the past seven days. That’s fewer than the five COVID-19 per 100,000 population threshold. Counties have to not meet both metrics to move back a phase.

All but four counties in Washington are in Phase 3 of the reopening plan. Cowlitz, Pierce, and Whitman counties were the first to be rolled back on April 12, while Ferry County’s health department voluntarily rolled the county back last week following a superspreader event that saw the county’s infection rate skyrocket.

“Hats off to those leaders in Ferry County,” Inslee said, adding the decision would have a statewide impact in stopping virus activity associated with the event.

Although residents and businesses were anticipating to see rollbacks from the governor on May 4, Inslee said the surprise announcement had to come when it did without advance notice. He noted the usual procedure would allow several days for residents of shifting counties to prepare, as prior to the pause any rollbacks would have went into effect May 8.

Inslee said the pause doesn’t change anything else about the reopening plan. He stressed that for the state to avoid rollbacks two weeks from now, vaccinations would need to ramp up, though he noted more than 54 percent of eligible state residents have received their first dose and 38 percent are fully vaccinated.

The COVID-19 death rate has “gone down dramatically” since vaccinations began, the governor said, which he credited to prioritizing the most vulnerable populations in the first phases of administering the shots. He said if vaccinations continue at a high-enough level there is a possibility of “much more normal activities in our state” this summer.



“This is dependent on our continuing to increase the vaccination rates,” Inslee said, noting concern the rate was trending downward.

Duchin said Washington was among states with the lowest COVID-19 case and death rates in the U.S., mirroring Inslee’s statements that the vaccine was key to the state’s further success.

“There’s no playbook for the endgame of this pandemic,” Duchin said, “but I’m sure all of us want to avoid a prolonged game of whack-a-mole with imposing and easing restrictions. Vaccination is the cure for mitigation measure whack-a-mole.” 

Inslee said he was “fully aware of the difficulties” faced by Washingtonians subject to changes brought on by the phased reopening.

“But you have to make a decision. Are you going to save lives and accept some of those difficulties, or not?” Inslee said. “We’ve made a decision to save lives.”

The governor said the state was active in cracking down on those who aren’t following mandates for operations. Inslee said there have been more than 100,000 complaints filed regarding non-adherence to restrictions, thousands of inspections, and some $7.3 million in fines handed down since the pandemic came to Washington.

Acknowledging Ferry County’s decision to roll back without a mandate from the state, Inslee pushed back on potentially making it so counties themselves have the authority on what restrictions should be in place. He said the statewide process provided a greater “moral force” behind the decisions, which he said made it easier to find compliance.

“While we’re pausing today, it doesn’t mean we are going to pause our efforts,” Inslee said. “I believe Washington is going to remain committed.”

Inslee said the state would need to have a high-enough percentage of its population vaccinated before any significant change would come from the state’s approach on COVID-19. 

“We clearly do not have that (percentage) today,” Inslee said.