Inslee Announces New Proclamation to Replace Expiring ‘Stay Home, Stay Safe’ Order

Governor Jay Inslee announced Friday that he will allow his Stay Home, Stay Healthy order to expire Sunday.

The order will be replaced by a new proclamation based on his Safe Start recovery plan, which Inslee stated will provide counties more flexibility to move ahead in a self-start approach.

Inslee said, "We're going to be open to options presented by counties who don't quite meet the Phase 2 requirements, but might be able to propose certain activities that they can really demonstrate are safe. You might call it sort of Phase 1.5 if you will."

Health and elected officials from Chelan and Douglas county proposed what they called a 'Phase 1.5' variance proposal two weeks ago, only to have it quickly rejected.

New data targets were also established, including an easing from 10 new cases per 100,000 residents over 14 days to 25 news cases. Together, Chelan and Douglas county are currently averaging 97 cases per 100,000 over 14 days.

Hospitalizations will most likely need to be flat or decreasing for a county to move on.

The Department of Health would also look at the healthcare system readiness of a county. Inslee said counties need to have a target of less than 80% capacity for hospital beds.

Testing capacity is another metric that will be considered by state officials. The target positive test rate should be 2% or less, and a rapid turnaround time between testing and results needs to be demonstrated.

Contact tracing will be scrutinized, with a goal of contacting 90% of a case's contacts by phone or person within 24 hours, and all of the contacts reached by 48 hours.

Outbreaks, which have been a concern for counties in Central Washington due in large part to the agricultural community, will also be measured. Counties under 75,000 must have zero outbreaks per week, with no more than 3 outbreaks per week for the bigger counties.

Inslee stated that each metric is a target, not a requirement.

Secretary of State Kim Wyman will have the power to move counties forward or back in the phase process depending on the new metrics.

Inslee and Secretary of Health John Weisman indicated that Central Washington counties with high rates of infection will be dealt with cautiously.

"For instance, I talked to the Mayor of Leavenworth (Carl Florea), a fantastic town, we just love going there." Inslee said, "But for the moment, not going to these centers right now and overwhelming these communities; they really appreciate it."

Under the new proclamation, workers across the state are required to wear masks on the job unless they are working alone. The masks must be provided by the employer, and businesses will also be required to provide a sign reminding citizens to wear masks.

Businesses will not be required to remove a customer for a failure to wear a mask, but may do so under the normal rights of a private business.

Inslee also added that he is in discussion with state legislators about a special session. The governor said he does not want to call a special session unless meaningful decisions are made, and that he is currently undecided on the issue.

Friday marked three months to the day since Governor Inslee declared a State of Emergency in Washington state.