OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee says he is extending the state’s coronavirus stay-at-home order through at least May 31.
The Democratic governor said Friday he will ease the restrictions in four stages, starting with allowing retail curbside pickup, automobile sales and car washes by mid-May.
There will be a minimum of three weeks between each phase, though Inslee said some counties with lower numbers of cases and deaths may be able to open parts of their economy sooner if approved by the Department of Health.
Washington state had the nation’s first confirmed COVID-19 case in January, as well as the first deadly cluster, at a Seattle-area nursing home. Inslee in March was among the first governors to issue a sweeping social-distancing mandate.