Kittitas County’s Incident Management Team (IMT) announced in a press release it has begun drafting an application for the county to enter phase three of Gov. Jay Inslee’s phased reopening plan. This application will be made on June 18, three weeks after beginning phase two as per state requirements.

Phase three would lessen restrictions to allow nonessential travel, more businesses to reopen and increased numbers allowed in gatherings. 

“We continue to ask Kittitas County to help us attain Phase 3 by following Phase 2 restrictions, maintain physical distance of six feet or wear a cloth face covering,” the press release reads. “At this time, there are no decisions from the state as to a county’s ability to proceed to Phase 4.”

The application process requires the county to assess current COVID-19 activity and its ability to mitigate cases. This includes examining an epidemiologic summary of new COVID-19 activity during phase two, changes in testing capacity and resources available to county residents who require isolation or quarantine. 

Along with the required documentation, the county must also receive approval from the Kittitas County Board of Health and the Kittitas County Board of County Commissioners to attempt to move to phase three.

Kittitas County currently has two active cases of COVID-19, with 92 cases total. 90 of these cases are considered recovered.