PORT ANGELES – Clallam County’s health officer thinks a new method of reopening the state from the COVID-19 pandemic will be coming soon.
Dr. Allison Berry says the state is working on what “Phase Three” and beyond may look like. She says it may not be a regional approach anymore.
“I can tell you that the state is looking at metrics to move to Phase 3, and there are some very hopeful things there. So, there is a very strong opposition from nearly the entire state to the regionalization of the face movements. And so I think it’s very likely that that’s going to go away and we’re going to start moving forward as counties.”
Berry says the new metrics will be more about case rates than trends, and that will benefit places like Clallam County that have kept rates low. She’s confident Clallam County will be moving forward soon.
“I would say we have a very high likelihood of going to Phase 3 as soon as things get announced. The exact case rate cut off is still up in the air, that’s being decided right now. There’s a lot of different players as you can imagine putting in their thoughts.“
Berry says reopening will still need to be balanced in Clallam County.
“The challenge is, you want to move forward, you know fast enough to take care of the businesses and the people who really need that income. But you also don’t want to move forward so fast that you get a massive spike and everything goes backwards again. So that’s the the delicate line we’re always trying to walk.”
Berry expects the new metrics and guidance from the state in the next days or weeks. Berry made the remarks during a virtual meeting Wednesday sponsored by the Clallam County Economic Development Corporation.