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Snohomish County leaders pushing to go to phase 2 of reopening

EVERETT, Wash. — Snohomish County leaders announced they will be applying to move to phase 2 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s four-phase Safe Start recovery plan for Washington.

But the county is still missing one important requirement: an average of fewer than 10 new cases per 100,000 residents over a 14-day period. In Snohomish County, that’s about 82 or fewer cases within two weeks, according to the Herald.

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The most recent numbers from May 10 - 23 show there were 241 new cases in the county, or an average of about 17 cases in the two-week period.

“The rate of infection approaches the parameters set by the state, if subsets of irregular outbreaks, such as assisted living facilities, are taken into account, as the CDC allows," the county said Thursday in a news release.

The release also said the county now has “all of the elements necessary to meet Phase II requirements for large counties." While Inslee has not released requirements that specifically address large counties, he did say Wednesday that requirements may change to make it easier for counties like Snohomish, King and Pierce to move forward, the Herald reported.

County leaders say they’ve met four out of the five criteria items needed to reopen, including having adequate personal protective equipment, hospital beds and testing capabilities.

The decision to apply for a variance will need to be approved by the Snohomish Health District Board of Health and the Snohomish County Council.

Both have called for emergency special meetings Friday to consider the proposal.

If approved by both, the request will go to the state for consideration.