King County moves to reopen outdoor restaurant dining and allow small gatherings

King County officials say they're moving to allow outdoor dining, small gatherings, and personal services to resume soon.

But the state must first approve the county's request to move into a modified version of Washington's first phase to reopening the economy.

May 31 is the last day for Washington's stay-at-home order. Thereafter, state officials will move to using a four-phase plan, which is already underway, to govern reopening on a county-by-county basis.

Starting June 1, each of Washington's 39 counties must adhere to the social distancing rules corresponding to one's state-approved reopening status. Twenty-six counties have been approved to move to Phase 2 as of Thursday. King County is currently in Phase 1.

READ: Washington's stay home order to lift on June 1 as state moves to phased reopening

While county officials say we aren't ready to move into Phase 2, which allows certain indoor establishments to resume in-person services, we are poised to loosen some restrictions under a modified version of Phase 1.

"This is a big step in the right direction. We'll be monitoring our progress," said King County Executive Dow Constantine on Friday. "And if our metrics are stable, and we are meeting the criteria, then we plan to open up more businesses, and activities in a safe manner."

Constantine told KUOW's The Record on Tuesday that he didn't anticipate King County would be cleared for any social distancing rollbacks by June 1. This still remains the case, he said, considering the county won't be able to apply with the state for modified reopening until then.

Read: 'I can't foresee that happening:' King County not expecting clearance for non-essential reopening by June 1

Constantine, however, warned that "we are not out of the woods yet" and that "we still have a long way to go before our economy is anywhere close to where we were three months ago."

King County reported 29 new cases on Friday, bringing the county total to 8,006: The highest of any other county in the state. The county has so far seen 554 Covid-19 deaths.

Those numbers notwithstanding, county officials say increasing knowledge about how to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus gives them confidence in scaling back some restrictions.

"We know about social distancing ... we know about mask use," said Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer with Public Health — Seattle & King County. "We know that we need to limit the size of our gatherings, the time period which we spent together. We know that outdoor, well-ventilated spaces are less risky than indoor and poorly ventilated spaces. All these things will reduce risk."

Duchin also pointed to the approximately three-week delay between when new infections emerge and when they are reflected within Covid-19 data.

"Over the next couple of weeks, we'll see what effect [reopening] has on our case rates, and our ability to manage outbreaks if they should occur and so on," he said. "And that will give us some time to be careful."

But even as the county heads toward less stringent social distancing, officials are urging more vulnerable groups to take special precautions.

"We're still asking the high risk to understand that they remain at high risk, that this virus isn't going away," Duchin said. "And that there really isn't, in the near future, a pre-Covid normal that we can return to."