Republican lawmakers in Washington State are proposing a “Phase 3” plan, citing that Governor Jay Inslee has not yet laid out what is next for all regions in Washington State who are in Phase 2.
The GOP refers to their plan as “Open Safe, Open Now: The Republican plan for Phase 3 and Beyond”
Phase 3 of their plan would have all K-12 students immediately return to the in-person learning, while following safety protocols set by the CDC. It would also see the hospitality industry, professional services, indoor weddings and religious services, and gyms would be open to 50% capacity.
The GOP says that in their plan, all counties in the state would move to Phase 3 immediately. Then after three weeks, all counties would immediately move into their Phase 4, which open the state 100%.
Additionally, if a county’s health jurisdiction determines that their county is not prepared to move on to the next phase, under this plan they would have to demonstrate why that is based on case rate trends, hospital admission rates, ICU bed capacity, and virus positivity rate.
“As the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations declines,” The GOP says in their presentation of their plan, “The state must trust the people of Washington to demonstrate personal responsibility and do what is necessary to get children back in school and people back to work.”
The Governor’s office heavily criticized the plan the Republicans put forward, calling it “political rhetoric with bullet points.”
In a statement, they criticize the plan put forth by state Republicans, saying that it lacks scientific justification for the change in plans.
“This plan would undoubtedly lead to a rebound in COVID activity,” the statement reads, “More people would suffer as a result. It is not a serious proposal.”
