Submitted by Washington Governor Jay Inslee
Gov. Jay Inslee issued guidance for partially resuming limited in-store retail and manufacturing operations for counties granted variance under the Safe Start Phase 2 recovery plan laid out last week.
Through the Washington “Safe Start” plan, more businesses and activities will re-open in subsequent phases with adequate safety and health standards in place. Each phase will be at least three weeks — metrics and data will guide when the state can move from one phase to another.
Through the Safe Start approach, counties with a population of less than 75,000 that have not had a new case of COVID-19 in the past three weeks can apply for a variance to move to Phase 2 of “Safe Start” before other parts of the state. County variance applications will be approved or denied by the secretary of the Department of Health. Eight counties have received the variance.
For counties granted variance to move to Phase 2, in-store retail operations may resume with limitations, effective May 12. This builds on guidance that Inslee issued yesterday, and requires that any sit-down in-store food and beverage services must follow all Phase 2 restaurant requirements.
Guidance documents:
- Memo: Partially Resuming Limited In-Store Retail Operations
- Phase 2 Limited In-Store Retail Operations COVID-19 Requirements
Inslee also released guidance today regarding additional manufacturing operations which may resume, effective May 12.
Guidance documents:
- Memo: Resuming Additional Manufacturing Operations
- Phase 2 Manufacturing Facility COVID-19 Requirements
Full list of guidance for all current businesses.
