By Alexis Krell and Debbie Cockrell
The News Tribune
Gov. Jay Inslee said Tuesday that more activity will be allowed under different phases of the state’s Safe Start plan.
He did not lift the pause on counties advancing phases, and he did not move any counties backward Tuesday.
Instead, he announced some specific activity that will now be allowed in different phases.
Members of different households will now be able to be seated together at restaurants indoors, and restaurants will be able to serve alcohol as late as 11 p.m. in phase two and phase three counties. The table size will be six in phase two and eight in phase three.
Grays Harbor and Pacific counties are in phase three.
Libraries will be allowed to have some indoor activity at 25% capacity in phase two counties, like museums.
Movie theaters will be allowed to have 25% occupancy in phase two and 50% occupancy in phase three, with social distancing required and masks required outside of eating and drinking.
The guidelines for school-related and non-school related sports will be now be in line, and sports will be put into different risk categories as far as when they can restart. There will also be rules about transportation, group size and masks.
The limit for wedding receptions will be 50 people in phase three. In phase two it remains 30.
Real estate open houses are allowed, limited by the restrictions on gathering size in a county.
There are also rules in phase two and phase three counties for outdoor recreation such as races, bike tours, marathons, cross country ski races and other activities.
Water recreation facilities will be available by appointment in modified phase one and phase two counties, and in phase three will be at 50-percent occupancy.
“We wanted to do targeted things where we can show how to do this in a safe way,” Inslee said. “I think increasingly the way we need to think about this is not just so much as prohibitions about what you can’t do. but adaptations to show how we do something safely. And so we think we’ve been able by working with the communities to develop ways to do these things safely. And we expect that effort will continue.”
Masking up as the weather changes
The governor reiterated the the importance of facial coverings as people spend more time indoors as the weather changes
“Wearing a mask is not a sign of weakness,” Inslee said. “It is fundamentally a sign of strength.”
He also emphasized that: “You don’t look strong when you hurt other people. … A mask is not a sign of party affiliation, and I am so glad that Washingtonians understand that.”
Dr. Joshua Schiffer, associate professor for vaccines and infectious diseases at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and University of Washington, joined Inslee on the call to talk about some of the science behind masks.
“The point is just by boosting the mask use a little bit, by everybody teaming up and doing a good job, it makes everybody so much safer,” Schiffer said.
He noted that if someone is wearing a mask and the person they’re exposed to is wearing a mask, and they still get infected: “our model very strongly suggests that the amount of virus that you would be exposed to is much less. And we think that that would make you much less likely to develop a severe version of COVID-19.”
He also noted that a University of Washington and John Hopkins symposium earlier in the day about the future of a vaccine left him optimistic.
“The best minds in the world are putting their energy into this,” he said, and he’s “very hopeful that there will be roll out of a vaccine, you know, within the coming year, and I’m just optimistic in general that that’s a possibility.”
The goal is to limit cases and deaths until then, he said.
