Gov. Jay Inslee Wednesday extended the most recent restrictions for businesses by a week, as health officials report flattening COVID-19 cases statewide and in Cowlitz County.
The orders prohibiting indoor dining, fitness facilities, movie theaters, bowling alleys and museums, as well as limiting retail capacity to 25%, will remain through Jan. 11. Inslee said in a statement he will announce more details next week on a new plan for businesses and workers affected by the order to safely reopen. Inslee first issued the orders Nov. 15.
State Secretary of Health Umair Shah said the state has seen improvements in case numbers but is not out of the woods. The one-week extension gives people some information going into the new year and allows time for virus numbers to continue to come down, he said.
Cowlitz County COVID-19 cases continue to increase but have leveled off since early December, as PeaceHealth continues to vaccinate high risk workers.
As of Tuesday morning, PeaceHealth St. John and Southwest medical centers had vaccinated 1,900 caregivers and will continue offering the vaccine Wednesday and next week, said Randy Querin, spokesperson.
âThus far we are grateful that we havenât had any reports of caregivers suffering unusual after-effects of the vaccination, just some muscle soreness in the arm and some reports of fatigue,â Querin said in an email.
Southwest received 3,900 doses of the Pfizer vaccine on Dec. 15 to share regionally. However, PeaceHealth expects to get about 20% more doses because in most cases providers have gotten six doses from the vials instead of five.