Watch: Gov. Inslee spoke Friday to update Washington state’s stay-at-home order
With his stay-at-home order set to expire, Gov. Jay Inslee provided an update at a 2:30 p.m. Friday press conference.
We will live stream the press conference below courtesy of TVW.
On May 1, Inslee announced an extension of the stay-at-home order through Sunday to continue the social distancing strategy against the new coronavirus pandemic.
The governor also announced that Washington businesses would open in four phases — each one separated by at least three weeks.
At a press conference Thursday, Inslee was asked about Snohomish County seeking a variance to move to phase 2 even though it does not meet the current criteria.
“In the next few days we’ll have more decisions about June 1 and where we go from here” and he suggested that those decisions could be responsive” to larger counties hoping to reopen more of their businesses.
“There will probably be some pleased folks to some degree,” the governor said.
He later added: “We’ll have more to say about that, I hope, [Friday]. That is not a certainty...”
The News Tribune reported Thursday that some Pierce County elected officials said they will apply to move to Phase 2 of Inslee’s reopening plan as quickly as possible. Thurston County is among several counties that have done so.
Phase 1 includes retail (curbside pick-up orders only) automobile, recreational vehicle, boat, and off-road vehicle sales; landscaping, car washes, and pet walkers.
Phase 2 -- which state officials said earlier this month could begin throughout the state on Monday -- includes in-store retail purchases, restaurants with 50 percent capacity and table sizes no larger than 5, new construction, real estate, hair and nail salons, and barbers.
In response to a question at Thursday’s press conference, Inslee said pending lawsuits challenging the ongoing state of emergency he declared are not affecting his decision-making about the stay-at-home order.
“We’re making a decision based on the science and the data and the metrics and the advice we have from epidemiologists and listening to people in the larger community and how this is working,” he said.
The governor also has talked in recent weeks about the importance of wearing facial coverings, most recently Thursday when he outlined additional safeguards against COVID-19 for agricultural workers.
“I hope that we’re going to have a success on this, not just for agricultural workers, but for all of us. We’ll have more to say about that in the next few days,” he said.
This story was originally published May 29, 2020 at 8:50 AM.