Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee has turned down a request to allow Spokane County to move into the second phase of reopening. | Facebook
Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee has turned down a request to allow Spokane County to move into the second phase of reopening. | Facebook
Spokane County’s request to move faster to phase two of Washington’s COVID-19 reopening plan has been denied by Gov. Jay Inslee.
“The answer was not what we expected it to be,” Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward told KXLY. “We have a good case. We presently it strongly.”
Woodward, along with mayors of other cities in the county, believe the county should have been given a variance to move to phase two as the county is experiencing a slow growth in cases of the coronavirus and low rates of hospitalization.
“We’re not trying to say we’re out of the woods,” Spokane Valley Mayor Ben Wick told KXLY. “We were trying to say that we’re ready to take the next step for our community.”
Many counties smaller than Spokane have also asked for variances to fast track the process of moving to phase two. Counties in the state currently have to wait until at least June 1 to enter the next reopening phase.
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