King County will not fall back to Phase 2 ... for now

While people around Washington state expected many counties to fall back to Phase 2 this week, Governor Jay Inslee announced that all regions will remain where they are for at least two weeks.

That means King County, and many others, will remain in Phase 3 with restaurant and shop capacity set at 50%. Inslee is calling it a "two week pause" on deciding whether counties will phase down.

The announcement was somewhat unexpected. The state is currently in a fourth wave of the pandemic. Covid case counts remain higher than what officials would like (less than 200 cases per 100,000 people) in at least a dozen counties.

But Inslee says that the most recent metrics over the weekend seem to indicate that the current fourth wave is plateauing. Hospitalizations are up, but the Covid death rate is down.

The governor displayed a chart showing the plateauing cases at the end of April and further explained that he and health experts believe hospitalizations usually rise two weeks after cases rise.

"We are not in imminent danger of our hospitalization system ..." Inslee said. "Is it certain to work? No. There is no certainty in this pandemic. But we believe it is a reasonable step."

"Don't just get angry, get even with this virus"

Inslee and King County Health Officer Jeff Duchin stressed that vaccination efforts continue and are credited with recent good news amid the pandemic, such as the decline in the death rate.

"Don't just get angry, get even with this virus. Knock it down. Help somebody get vaccinated."

Inslee said that there is no set metric for the number of vaccinated people in the state to start rolling back pandemic restrictions. All that is known, he said, is that more vaccinations will likely lead to things returning to normal.

As part of an effort to return to normal, the governor also said that his office is encouraging private companies to create vaccination incentives, such as portions of gathering spaces for vaccinated people. He believes that such incentives will be increased over time.

“You will be able to go to a Mariners game and sit in a vaccinated portion of the stands," he said. "You’ll be able to have increased participation in your faith organization, sitting in a sort of vaccination sector. And importantly, you’ll be able to go to school, and colleges.”

Inslee also noted that counties have the ability to phase down themselves and set tighter restrictions if they feel conditions warrant it. Ferry County recently set itself at Phase 2 after a series of outbreaks around rural Republic.

University of Washington epidemiologist Judith Malmgren says going back to Phase 2 wouldn't have been the end of the world, even for business owners. Speaking with KUOW's Angela King, she said the state should actually consider remodeling the phases of the plan to reflect our current reality — including particularly pathogenic variants now in the community and affecting younger people.

"The messaging before was that children and young adults — you're OK. Even if you get sick, it's going to be mild," Malmgren said. "But now, the whole game has shifted. We're in a different scenario."

A scenario that has not been tested before. The recent rise in cases and hospitalizations has been driven by younger people. That is different that in previous periods of the pandemic. Variants of concern are partially blamed for this new scenario. These variants are more infectious and cause more severe illnesses.

Meanwhile, masking recommendations from the state and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are loosening. The CDC now says fully vaccinated people can forego a mask outside.