King County applied to move to Phase 2 of its reopening amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. Scroll through the slideshow to see what will be allowed to reopen if the county is approved to move foward.
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Construction
Activities allowed: All construction, including new work and where social distancing may not be maintained.
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Domestic Services
Activities allowed: Any worker (hourly, salaried, independent contractor, full-time, part-time, or temporary) who is paid by one or more employer and provides domestic services to an individual or household in/about a private home as a nanny, house cleaner, cook, private chef, or household manager.
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Fitness
Activities allowed: Staffed indoor fitness studios and facilities, including but not limited to gymnastics, weight and resistance training, martial arts, yoga, and similar instructor-led fitness services, as well as staffed indoor tennis facilities.
Limitations: All fitness activities are subject to Phase 2 guidance which generally limits to groups of five participants or less.
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Higher Eduation
Activities allowed: All non-lecture based higher education and workforce training, including where social distancing may not be maintained.
In-store retail
Limitations: All retail activities are subject to Phase 2 guidance which restricts customer occupancy to 30% of a building’s occupancy or lower as determined by the fire code
Genna Martin/seattlepi.com
Library Services
Activities allowed: All public libraries, public library systems, institutional and governmental libraries, and libraries at institutions of higher education.
Limitations: All library activities are subject to Phase 2 guidance which limits services to mail or curbside pick-up and libraries remain otherwise closed to the public.
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Manufacturing operations
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Outdoor Recreation
Activities allowed: Staffed outdoor tennis facilities; guided ATV, paddle sports, and horseback riding; go-cart tracks, ORV/motocross facilities, and participant only motorsports; gondolas; zoos and aquariums; guided fishing, and all other similar activities.
Limitations: All outdoor recreation activities are subject to Phase 2 guidance and are generally limited to groups of five participants or less, in some instances up to 12 individuals or three households are permitted.
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Professional photography
Limitations: All professional photography services are subject to Phase 2 guidance which restricts services to appointment only and for one client (and family member, if client is a minor) at any given time. Group sessions are not allowed unless the group consists of immediate family only.
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Professional services
Activities allowed: Accountants, architects, attorneys, engineers, financial advisors, information technologists, insurance agents, tax preparers, and other office-based occupations that are typically serving a client base.
Limitations: All professional services are subject to Phase 2 guidance which restricts guest occupancy to 50% of a building’s occupancy with the exception of one to one service in a fully enclosed room
Photo Credit: Dzianis Apolka / Alamy Stock Photo
Real estate
Activities allowed: All real estate brokers, firms, independent contractors and industry partners.
Limitations: All real estate activities are subject to Phase 2 guidance which generally restricts out of office activities to appointment only and with no more than three people; office activities require reservations for in-person customer services and guest occupancy is limited to 50% of a building’s occupancy.
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Religious and faith organizations
Activities allowed: All religious and faith-based organizations may operate services including worship services; religious study classes; religious ceremonies; religious holiday celebrations, weddings, and funerals.
Limitations: All religious and faith based activities are subject to Phase 2 guidance which generally restricts indoor services to the lesser of 25% capacity or 50 individuals and in-home services/counseling is restricted to no more than five individuals. Outdoor services are permitted for up to 100 individuals. Limitations on capacity does not include an organization’s staff, but does include volunteers
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Restaurants and taverns
Limitations: All restaurant and tavern operations are subject to Phase 2 guidance which prohibits any bar seating and restricts indoor customer occupancy to 50% of a building’s occupancy or lower as determined by the fire code. Outdoor dining is allowed at 50% of capacity and does not count toward the building occupancy limit; additional outdoor seating will be allowed provided it follows Public Health – Seattle & King County’s best practices and a restaurant secures any municipal permit that may be required.
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Social and recreational gatherings
Limitations: Individuals may gather with five or fewer people from outside their household per week.
GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM
Sporting activities
Activities allowed: Golf; professional sporting activities indoor and outdoor; outdoor youth team sports and outdoor adult recreational team sports, excluding school connected or administered team sports and junior hockey.
Limitations: All sporting activities are subject to Phase 2 guidance (golf and other sporting activities). Non-professional sporting activities are generally limited to groups of five participants or less; for team sports that can mean limiting to groups of five in separate parts of the field if separated by a buffer zone. Professional sporting activities may generally operate, including up to 50 people for back office operations, for full team practices and spectator-less games and competitions.
King County on Monday submitted its application to move to Phase 2 of its reopening amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
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The King County Board of Health voted to move forward with its application to move to the next phase after applying and moving earlier this month to Phase 1.5, which allowed the opening of certain businesses at more limited capacities.
“After two weeks in what has been called Phase 1.5, our case counts, health care system capacity and other metrics are holding steady, and we are ready to move to Phase 2,” Executive Dow Constantine said in a statement.
“But make no mistake – successful economic recovery will depend on everyone in King County carefully following the recommendations of our Public Health experts, including wearing face coverings and avoiding unnecessary contacts, so together we can keep re-opening our community while holding the line on the pandemic.”
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Late last month, Gov. Jay Inslee announced moving forward, the state would reopen on a county-by-county basis. Counties need to submit applications to John Wiesman, secretary of Washington State Department of Health, to move through the phases.
The state will then look at several metrics to decide whether to approve a county's application.
The state's targets include having fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 people over the past 14 day period and flat or decreasing coronavirus hospitalizations. Counties should also demonstrate they have enough hospital capacity, personal protection equipment, testing and contact tracing to handle the virus going forward.
"The metrics are intended to be applied as targets, not hardline measures," the state's "Safe Start Washington" plan said. "The targets each contribute to reducing risk of disease transmission, and are to be considered in whole. Where one target is not fully achieved, actions taken with a different target may offset the overall risk."
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Applications typically take between 24 and 72 hours to approve. Just six of Washington's 39 counties, including King County, remain in Phase 1 or a modified version of Phase 1.
According to King County's application, the county has had just under 25 cases per 100,000 over the past 14 days and its rate of hospitalizations has been decreasing. About 70% of hospital beds are occupied across hospitals in the county, under the 80% target set by the state, according to the data. Just about 2% of hospital beds are currently serving COVID-19 patients, which falls under the state's target of 10% or less.
Although the county does meet much of the criteria set forward, its effective reproductive number -- meaning the average number of people infected from one person who has the virus -- is 1.2, over the target of 1. The county also fails to meet some of the targets in terms of its case and contact investigations and its ability to protect high-risk populations.
Scroll through the slideshow to see what will change if the county's application to enter Phase 2 is approved.
