Whatcom applies for Phase 2 reopening under the coronavirus Safe Start plan
Whatcom County is asking for permission to advance to Phase 2 under Gov. Jay Inslee’s Safe Start plan to ease business closures and social-distancing requirements aimed at fighting the new coronavirus pandemic.
Members of the Whatcom County Council, acting as the county Health Board, voted unanimously Tuesday, June 2, to approve the Health Department’s application for a Phase 2 variance and send it to Inslee for consideration.
“I have the document ready and I am going to sign it right now,” said Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu.
Health Director Erika Lautenbach was prepared to file the application electronically today, Sidhu said.
An answer should come within two days, an official with the County Executive’s Office said.
New state requirements were set Sunday, May 31, preventing county officials from applying for Phase 2 on Monday, June 1, Lautenbach told the council at a meeting on Monday.
All but essential businesses have been closed since March 24 in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
Whatcom is among 12 of Washington’s 39 counties that remain in Phase 1, according to state information from Monday, June 1..
Under Phase 2, more businesses are allowed to open and social-distancing guidelines are eased.
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Meanwhile, Whatcom County officials have secured the Holiday Inn & Suites near the Bellingham airport as a quarantine facility for people such as police officers or firefighters who think they have been exposed to COVID-19. It’s not a site for COVID-positive patients.
“I’ll go further than saying we’re negotiating — the owner has committed up to 51 rooms,” Chris Quinn, from the Whatcom County Prosecutor’s Office, told the council on Monday.
An isolation site for up to 57 people is operating at the former Motel 6 in Bellingham.
Having a second isolation facility is one of the requirements for Washington counties to advance to Phase 2.
“Moving to Phase 2 is like turning up a dial, not flipping a switch,” the Health Department said at its website. “We must all still exercise caution as we reopen safely because it only takes one case to spread quickly to many others.”
Phase 2 will allow, these activities, according to the Health Department:
▪ Social gatherings — inside or outside — with no more than five people from outside your household.
▪ More manufacturing and construction, domestic services, retail stores, real estate. services, professional services, nail salons and barbers, with some restrictions.
▪ Restaurants can open at 50% capacity but without bar seating.
Practices that should continue in Phase 2, according to the Health Department:
▪ Hand-washing and sanitizing.
▪ Physical distancing, remaining 6 feet away from others.
▪ Wearing a mask in public spaces.
▪ Staying home and away from others with any symptoms of illness.
The location and purpose of Whatcom County’s second quarantine site was updated June 5, 2020.
This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 11:32 AM.
