Officials: Snohomish, other counties not ready for Phase 2
EVERETT — Snohomish County likely won’t move to Phase 2 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s plan to reopen the state, even if much of the rest of the state does on June 1, local officials say.
As in other large Western Washington counties, there are too many new COVID-19 cases each day to meet the required threshold. While hospitals are ready for a surge, contact tracing and testing aren’t where they need to be to control a major outbreak, the county’s top health officer, Dr. Chris Spitters, said during a Friday call with reporters. It’s possible the county could enter the next phase — which, among other things, would open restaurants to 50% capacity, barber shops and nail salons — at some point in June.
“Things continue to get better, but we’re still not there,” Spitters said. “I’d like to have better news than that. I do think it’s not far off, but it’s something that’s going to take efforts by us on the containment end and efforts by the community to do what they can to suppress transmission.”
King and other large counties are in the same boat, Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers said during the Friday briefing.
“We’re headed in the right direction, but we certainly will not meet those criteria by June 1,” he said.
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/officials-snohomish-other-counties-not-ready-for-phase-2/