Pacific County moves into Phase 2

During a press conference last week, Governor Jay Inslee announced that the West and Puget Sound Regions have moved to Phase 2 on Monday, February 1. These two regions include Pacific, Grays Harbor, Lewis, Thurston, Snohomish, King, and Pierce counties. Each of these counties have met the metrics that Inslee put into place at the beginning of January.

"The fact that these two regions are moving into Phase 2 is encouraging news," said Washington Secretary of Health Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH. "As we continue our community efforts, we hope more such progress will be made. Ultimately our goal remains ensuring the health and safety of all of Washington."

"We are getting closer to finding our way out of this mess, but we aren't there yet," Inslee said. "We have sacrificed too much to let our frustrations get the best of us now when the finish line is in sight, however distant that may seem in our field of vision."

Each region will be re-evaluated every two weeks to see if they stay in a positive trend. It is possible to have to revert back into Phase 1 if COVID-19 spikes again.

"We are the fifth-lowest infection rate in the United States," said Inslee. "We are a state that is a national leader in the effort against COVID. When you are the national leader, I think that is something to take pride in."