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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
October 15, 2020     Shelton Mason County Journal
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October 15, 2020
 
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will iter’s. ct to : St, I St l in and ate, bill ns on er : long u ents _mp, 1can , and - ars. msley sport bal- I use County COVID-19 cases top 500 By Gordon Weeks 77 gordon@masoncounty. com The number of Mason County resi- dents who have tested positive for the coronavirus has topped 500. At 4 p.m. Tuesday, Mason County Public Health reported three new cas- es from the previous day to total 510 cases. That includes 48 active cases, none hospitalized in Mason County and one hospitalized outside Mason County; 12,045 tests have been con- ducted. Eight people in Mason County have died from the disease, four of them residents of Fir Lane Health & Rehabilitation in Shelton. Of the Mason County residents who have tested positive for the disease, 88 are 19 years old and younger; 195 are ages 20 to 39; 128 are between the ages of 40 and 59; 78 are between the ages of 60 and 79; and 21 are 80 and older. To reduce the spread of the corona- Virus, the agency encourages everyone to wash their hands often and avoid close contact with others; cover your mouth and nose with a mask around others and always cover your coughs and sneezes; and monitorvyour health daily and stay home if you are sick or experiencing any COVID-19 symp- toms. Inslee relaxes some coronavirus restriction-s By Kirk Boxleitner kbox/e/tner@masonoounty.com With Gov. Jay Inslee announc- ing several updates to Washington’s “Safe Start” reopening plan Oct. 6, the Shelton—Mason County Journal spoke with the Shelton—Mason Coun- ty Chamber of Commerce about how the new guidance might affect busi- ness, for better or worse. Inslee attributed his new guidance to conversations he’s had with busi- nesses in the state. Chamber Execu- tive Director Heidi McCutcheon said Inslee had assigned staffers to sit in on the Chamber’s virtual meetings for the past couple of months. At the same time, McCutcheon not- ed that much' of the Chamber’s input to the governor has been offered indi- rectly, through those who had already established audiences with Inslee, cit- ing a lack of direct avenues to his of- fice otherwise. “It’s been a bit hit-and-miss, when it comes to whom he’s granted an au- dience,” McCutcheon said. McCutcheon offered a similarly mixed assessment of the new guid; ance itself. While libraries’ regula- tions now align more closely to those of museums, allowing some indoor ac— tivity in Phase 2 at 25% capacity, she was disappointed at the lack of guid- ance on libraries for Phase 3. McCutcheon criticized what she saw as potentially severe consequenc- es of sudden shifts in regulations, and what she said she believes to be an inconsistent use of data-driven stan- V dards. “If you’re using certain data to de- termine when each county qualifies for the next phase, that shouldn’t change midstride,” McCutcheon said. “When you’re a restaurant with only eight tables to begin with, it makes a huge difference whether your seat- ing capacity is 75% or 50%. With 150%, they might decide to only offer carry—out, but with 75%, they might think they can afford a waitress, a dishwasher and more inventory, un- til the standards shift again and they have to lay off all the people they just hired. That can kill a business.” Guest occupancy at restaurants must now be at 50% of the maximum building occupancy or lower, as deter— mined by the fire code, and while out- door seating is permitted, it must also be at 50% capacity. The new restaurant guidelines move alcohol cutoffs from 10 pm. to 11 pm. for Phases 2 and 3, and in- crease the table size to six in Phase 2 and eight in Phase 3. Although she has concerns about the specifics of some new guidelines, McCutcheon said it’s a positive devel— opment when government eases the degrees of regulations on local busi- nesses and approves of eliminating the indoor household member restric- tion for indoor dining. “Having the table size limit be five was so arbitrary, since groups are usually even-numbered,” McCutch- eon said. McCutcheon shared Inslee’s confi- dence that businesses can continue to serve customers safely under the new guidance. . “Here in Washington, we know the threat of COVID is real, and we take it seriously,” Inslee said Oct. 6. “It is safety, and public health, that come first before anything else in this un— precedented time.” “People in Mason County are al- ready doing their part, by wearing masks and socially distancing,” Mc- Cutcheon said. “I don’t see any nega- tives coming from easing up on the requirements for our businesses, and I’m looking forward to seeing an in: _’ crease in running, bicycling, kaya- ’ king and races of all kinds this fall, with the new protocols for outdoor recreation in Phases 2 and 3.” Inslee had previously paused the “Safe Start” reopening plan after a sharp rise» in COVID cases in July, and while all 39 counties in Wash- ington will remain in their current phases, his Oct. 6 announcement al- lows for more activity in some of those phases. Movie theaters will be allowed 25% occupancy in Phase 2, and, for the Shelton Cinemas, 50% occupancy in Phase 3, with theater attendees required to maintain 6-foot social distance between households, and to wear facial coverings at all times, ex- cept when eating and drinking. Wedding receptions’ number of al- lowed attendees will increase to 50 in Phase 3, while retail events such as crafts sales and shows will be allowed outdoors in Phase 3, but with their at- tendance capped at 200 people. As for real estate, open houses can resume, but with attendance capped at their counties’ gathering size limits. “'2. 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