Skagit County can't move onto the next phase of reopening. | Pixabay
Skagit County can't move onto the next phase of reopening. | Pixabay
The County of Skagit in Washington State has been notified by state officials it has not done enough to control the COVID-19 virus and doesn't qualify for Phase 3 business reopening.
“It is not safe to move to Phase 3 at this time,” Director of Public Health Jennifer Johnson said during an online meeting of the County Board of Health, Go Skagit reported.
Officials of Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA) had designed a “Safe Start Plan” for businesses to reopen from the pandemic, but too many people in Skagit had become ill with the virus for the county to qualify for the third tier. The governor has paused applications for Phase 3 currently in the system until at least July 28, at which time they could again be reviewed. Until then counties will stay in their current phase, health officials said.
Skagit County remains in Phase 2.
The second half of June saw the county with 27.1 new cases of the coronavirus per 100,000 residents, Go Skagit reported. To reach Phase 3 the county needed no more than 25 cases.
The county has complied with requirements mandating contact tracing, testing and adequate hospital beds.
County Health Officer Howard Leibrand expressed concern about the trending numbers of virus cases.
“We’re on the cusp of a big problem again if we can’t turn this around,” he told Go Skagit.
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