Seven Washington counties will see their COVID restrictions ease beginning Monday.

Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday that seven counties in Western Washington will see their COVID-19 mandated restrictions ease starting on Monday. That includes counties that are home to tech centers including Seattle, Redmond and Bellevue, as well as Tacoma and Olympia.

Most of the state will remain in phase one lockdown conditions, while the seven counties will go to phase two.

Since early January, Washington’s counties have been grouped and evaluated by region to determine which business and recreational activities are permitted in order to slow the spread of COVID. Under an updated plan, the regions must meet certain criteria in three of four metrics before moving to a phase with fewer restrictions. Those benchmarks include:

  • A decrease in the 14-day rate of new cases per 100,000 people.
  • A decrease in the 14-day rate of new COVID hospital admissions per 100,000 people.
  • Less than 90% occupancy of ICU beds, averaged over seven days.
  • Fewer than 10% positivity rate for COVID tests, averaged over seven days.

None of the state’s counties showed a decrease in the rate of new cases, although because of delays in reporting, the data being compared are from the end of December compared to the first two weeks of January, ending Jan. 16.

The number of new cases in the state appear to be on decline through later January. On Jan. 16, the number of new COVID cases in Washington was an average of 1,860, as calculated over seven days. The number on Jan. 26, which is officially deemed an incomplete tally, was a little more than 1,000.

COVID metrics for regions in Washington state, as provide by the governor’s office.

Under phase two rules, as set out in the governor’s Healthy Washington – Roadmap to Recovery, businesses are able to resume limited indoor services. Some of the most notable changes include:

  • Indoor dining at 25% capacity and alcohol service ending at 11 p.m.
  • Gyms at 25% capacity.
  • Reopening of indoor theaters, concert halls, aquariums, etc. at 25% capacity or a maximum of 200 people.
  • Indoor social gatherings of up to five people from outside of a household, and outdoor social gatherings of up to 15 people, limited to two households.

Regions will be evaluated every two weeks, and will slip back to phase one if it no longer meets the criteria for at least three categories.

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