SPOKANE, Wash. — As recently as two weeks ago, Gov. Jay Inslee was resistant to reopening Washington's economy one region at a time, saying a statewide approach made the most sense.
But after extensive pressure from many leaders in eastern Washington, Inslee and his staff said it's now an option on the table.
That prospect excites Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward.
"I wanted to advocate – and have been for several weeks now – to look at us differently than the west side, and I'm happy to see that the governor's willing to do that,” Woodward said. "We think that our situation is here is much different, when you look at… the number of cases, the number of increases that we've had, the hospitalizations, [and the] capacity for more hospital beds if we need it."
Inslee hasn’t actually approved a more localized reopening plan, but he is expected to offer more details about what his plan does entail on Friday.
"I'm remaining extremely optimistic,” Woodward said. “The conversation continues."
In the meantime, Woodward and other local leaders are working with businesses and health experts to develop a thorough plan for what that reopening would actually look like if permitted.
"We're working on that, so I can't tell you specifically what that would look like, but it would be bringing on those businesses that, number one, can social distance with their customers,” she said. “And are they essential, are they non-essential?"
A local reopening would also rely on guidance from public health experts like Spokane County Health Officer Dr. Bob Lutz. Easing social distancing measures too soon could have unintended consequences.
"It has to be done in a healthy way,” Woodward said. “Once we start opening businesses, we have to convince people in the community that it's safe to come into those businesses."
But Woodward also says we need to come to terms with the fact that this won't be a return to normal, and there may never be a perfect time to reopen. Meaning, we’ll need to be creative and flexible in our approach.
"We don't have the amount of testing that we really need to see what COVID really looks like in Spokane. I don't know if we'll ever get the testing that we want. We don't have a vaccine for who knows how many more months, maybe a year,” said Woodward. “I think we have to get to the point… where we learn to live with COVID and what that looks like. I think when do start opening up businesses that social distancing is going to be even more important: sanitation, proper hygiene etiquette, and all those things."
For that creativity, Woodward suggests turning to business owners themselves.
"We have to learn from the experts in those different business sectors how they think they can reopen,” she said. “They're the ones who know their business better than anything else."