Phase 1 of reopening Washington starts May 5, 2020
Grays Harbor County Public Health & Social Services Department
Tomorrow marks the first day of Governor Inslee’s phased reopening of Washington State
Tomorrow, Grays Harbor County, along with the rest of the State of Washington, moves to phase 1 of Governor Inslee's Phased Reopening as announced Friday, May 1. During phase 1:
High-risk populations: continue to stay home, stay healthy.
Recreation: some outdoor recreation allowed, including hunting, fishing, golf, boating, and hiking.
Social or spiritual gatherings: not allowed. Drive-in spiritual service with one household per vehicle allowed.
Travel: essential travel and limited non-essential travel for phase 1 permissible activities.
Business/employers: essential businesses open, existing construction that meets agreed upon criteria, landscaping, auto/RV/boat/ORV sales, retail (curbside pick-up orders only), car washes, pet walkers.
The phased plan includes the opportunity for counties that have not had any new COVID-19 cases in the past 3 weeks to apply for a variance that would allow them to move to a less restrictive phase before the rest of the state. At this time, Grays Harbor County is eligible to apply for a variance.
“We are eager to make decisions as soon as possible about opening up public life and our economy. We received final guidance on the process to apply to the Washington State Department of Health for a variance this morning so we now have a roadmap for the process and an established method to submit the request to the State,” says Karolyn Holden, Director of Grays Harbor County Public Health.
The Grays Harbor County COVID-19 Incident Management Team is working quickly to identify gaps in capacity and to push requests for assistance in acquiring the materials (test kits, PPE) necessary to have a successful request for a variance. The timeline for the Incident Management Team to have those things in place depends a great deal on the ability to acquire enough of those items to be ready for a surge in cases that may occur after moving to phase 2. In the meantime, Grays Harbor County will remain at phase 1.
Case updates
Grays Harbor County has 12 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
March 2020: 2 cases
April 2020: 10 cases
May 2020: 0 cases
Grays Harbor County Public Health will continue to operate a COVID-19 call center that will assist people with testing referrals. Assistance is available in both English and Spanish. Call (360) 964-1850. Please note that the call center’s hours of operation will once again be Monday through Friday, 8:30am to 4pm.
Everyone should stay home and stay healthy. If you have to leave your home for essential activities, wear a cloth face covering.
Grays Harbor Public Health Incident Management Team and Grays Harbor Emergency Operations Center provide the most accurate, timely information possible. For any questions about COVID-19 and our response call (360) 964-1850, email covid19@co.graysharbor.wa.gov, or visit our website at http://www.healthyGH.org. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/healthyghc.