Washington Makes Early Progress In Phased Recovery
Governor Inslee’s May 4, 2020, amendment to his “Stay Home – Stay Healthy” Order set in motion a re-opening plan called “Safe Start Washington: A Phased Approach to Recovery.” The Safe Start Washington plan announced that “Phase 1 of reopening Washington begins on May 5, 2020.” However, as I discussed in my May 5th blog entry, it initially appeared that many of the Phase 1 changes to the Stay Home Order might not begin in earnest until closer to May 15 because the Governor conditioned those changes on full compliance with “industry-specific requirements that will be issued as soon as possible but no later than May 15, 2020.” During his May 1, 2020 press conference, Governor Inslee explained that those requirements would be the result of a collaborative effort between the State and interested stakeholders in the impacted industries.
The May 4th amendment also explained that certain low density “counties with a population of less than 75,000 that have not identified a resident with COVID-19 the three most recent consecutive weeks” would have the opportunity to submit an application for a variance that, if granted, would allow the county to move more rapidly along the 4-phase re-opening plan. Although the Safe Start Washington plan detailed the process for “County Variance Requests,” it was unclear when these low-density counties might realistically obtain a variance to move to Phase 2.
We are now just over a week into the Safe Start Washington plan and many of the initial timing questions have been resolved.
Industry-Specific Requirements Issued
The State has already issued the promised “industry-specific requirements” for each of activities re-opened in Phase 1, as well as three industries to be re-opened in Phase 2:
Phase 1 Activity Requirements:
- Vehicle and Vessel Sales – see the “Phase 1 Resuming Vehicle and Vessel Sales COVID-19 Requirements” and FAQs issued on May 6, 2020;
- Religious Services – see the “Religious and Faith-based Organization Guidance – Stay Home Stay Healthy Safe Start Washington – Phase 1: Drive-in Services” requirements issued May 6, 2020;
- Car Washes – see the “Phase 1 Car Wash Industry COVID-19 Requirements” issued on May 7, 2020;
- Landscaping and Lawn Care – see the “Phase 1 Landscape Services and Outdoor Maintenance Industry COVID-19 Requirements” issued on May 8, 2020;
- Pet Walking – see the “Phase 1 Pet Walking Industry COVID-19 Requirements” issued on May 8, 2020; and
- Retail – see the “Phase 1 Curbside Retail COVID-19 Requirements” issued on May 8, 2020.
Businesses involved in each of these activities can now operate in every county across Washington state, provided that the business can fully comply with the applicable industry-specific COVID-19 requirements.
Phase 2 Activity Requirements:
- Restaurants and Taverns – see the “Phase 2 Restaurant/Tavern Reopening COVID-19 Requirements” issued on May 11, 2020;
- In-Store retail – see the “Phase 2 In-Store Retail Operations COVID-19 Requirements” issued on May 12, 2020; and
- Additional Manufacturing – see the “Phase 2 Manufacturing Facility COVID-19 Requirements” issued on May 13, 2020.
A complete list of the Governor’s essential business and industry-specific guidance can be found on the Governor’s website.
Eight Low Density Counties Approved for Phase 2
The low-density counties variance process has also made substantial progress over the last week. On May 8, 2020, the State Department of Health issued a News Release announcing that Health Secretary John Wiesman has approved variance applications from Columbia, Ferry, Garfield, Lincoln and Pend Oreille counties. On May 11, 2020, Skamania, Stevens, and Wahkiakum counties joined the list of low density counties to be granted early entry to Phase 2 of the Safe Start Washington plan. Kittitas County’s variance application remains under review at the time of this posting.
Under the Safe Start Washington plan, the following industries and expanded activities will re-open in Phase 2:
- Remaining manufacturing
- New construction
- In-home / domestic services (nannies, housecleaning, etc.)
- Retail (in-store purchases allowed with restrictions)
- Real estate
- Professional services/office-based business (telework remains strongly encouraged)
- Hair and nail salons/barbers
- Restaurants (less than 50% capacity and table sign no larger than 5)
In light of the restaurant/tavern, in-store retail, and manufacturing requirements issued this week, it appears likely the each of these Phase 2 activities will also need to comply with industry-specific requirements. While Phase 2 will not begin in most Washington counties until next month, the early release of Phase 2 industry requirements will allow businesses located in the Phase 1 counties time to prepare to satisfy applicable COVID-19 requirements. This should allow many of these businesses to resume operations immediately upon transition into Phase 2.