It will be another week, or more, before Jefferson County moves into Phase 3 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s “Safe Start” reopening plan.

At the end of a three-hour meeting Thursday, June 18, the Board of Health voted to approve Public Health Officer Tom Locke’s recommendation to move to Phase 3, but directed Public Health Director Vicki Kirkpatrick to submit the application for reopening on June 29, instead of immediately.

The board decided to open camping in the county immediately with no restrictions. Camping is a Phase 2 activity.

Phase 3 allows gatherings of 50 or fewer people, including sporting events; non-essential travel; restaurants at 75 percent capacity with a table size of 10 or fewer; bars at 25 percent capacity; gyms and movie theaters at 50 percent capacity; and retail, libraries, museums, and government buildings can open. Pools and recreation centers can open at 50 percent capacity and camping would also open.

High risk populations — those who are immunocompromised or over the age of 65 — should continue to stay home, even in Phase 3.

While members of the Board of Health agreed with Locke’s recommendations — that the county should move to Phase 3 without any restrictions — several members disagreed on when the move should occur.

City Councilwoman Pam Adams and County Commissioner David Sullivan wanted to wait until July 6 to move to Phase 3, while board members Kees Kolff and Denis Stearns moved to open immediately, with a contingency that Locke make enforcement of his masking directive mandatory for all businesses, with penalties for noncompliance.

Finally the board compromised with a motion made by Commissioner Kate Dean that allows for the application for Phase 3 to be held until June 29.

The Board of County Commissioners approved this recommendation at their regular meeting on Monday, June 22.

The commissioners also planned to hold  a special meeting Monday, June 29 at 9:45 a.m. to check in with Locke before sending the Phase 3 request to the state.

Jefferson County will only go to Phase 3 after the application is approved by the state Department of Health. That could take three to four days, Locke said.

In the coming week, Locke is going to explore the options of enforcement for not wearing masks, including criminal penalties.

“I wanted to give us a chance to do this through a non-punitive approach, but the bottom line is we need to ask the question, ‘Is that working?’” Locke said during his weekly briefing with county commissioners on Monday, June 22.

“As we move into Phase 3, the risks are going to go up,” he said. “If we want to open up the economy, make things more accessible and have greater freedoms, people have to make more of an effort to prevent disease transmission and this is a big part of it.”

While Locke has already issued a directive requiring people to wear masks in public places when 6 feet distancing cannot be maintained, he could make a new directive similar to the one in San Juan County that would include punitive measures. In San Juan County, violators of the masking order can receive a misdemeanor citation and be required to pay a fine.

Willie Bence, director of Jefferson County’s emergency operations center, said the center has taken some informal surveys of mask-wearing in Jefferson County.

“We’re seeing about 90 percent or so compliance at the local grocery stores,” he said.

But compliance at gas stations, convenience stores and retail stores is lower than that, he added.

Downtown on Water Street, compliance is around 20 percent, but he added masks only need to be worn when people cannot maintain 6 feet of physical distance, which is easier to do when walking around downtown.

To help encourage people to wear masks, the state has provided counties with free masks to hand out to low-income residents.

Bence reported that Jefferson County received 18,000 cloth masks from the state and have already distributed 6,000 of those masks at distribution centers, such as at county food banks.

Anyone who needs a mask, but cannot acquire one, can contact the department of emergency management.

Locke said mask wearing is going to be imperative in the coming months as more stores and events reopen.

“People that don’t know they have the infection will be moving around in the community,” he said. “If they’re not doing something to prevent their respiratory droplets and aerosols from being released from their body, they are infectious.”

In Jefferson County, there are now 33 confirmed cases of the coronavirus as of June 23.

Clallam County has surpassed Jefferson in case numbers with 34 confirmed cases.

Nationwide, there continues to be a steady increase in diagnosed cases of COVID-19, although Locke noted the death rate is decreasing.

“What I hope is going on is that we’re getting better at treating the infection,” he said. “Still, as you look across the country, in the majority of states and territories — things are going up.”

Washington has 28,870 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of June 23.