Gov. Inslee alters criteria for COVID-19 reopening phases
BELLINGHAM — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Friday altered the criteria used to determine whether a county moves from one COVID-19 reopening phase to another, making it easier for counties to remain in their current phase.
Counties must now fail both metrics for case counts and hospitalizations in order to move back a phase, Inslee said in a news release. Previously, counties could be moved backward by failing to meet one of those metrics.
Inslee made the change in advance of an evaluation of each county’s metrics on Monday.
“Given the incredible progress on vaccinations and our focus protecting people from severe illness, we believe analyzing and requiring both metrics together is the right approach to make sure we’re considering the connection between COVID cases and our medical system and hospitalizations,” Inslee said in the news release.
https://www.heraldnet.com/northwest/gov-inslee-alters-criteria-for-covid-19-reopening-phases/
