Whitman County will move back to Phase 2 starting April 16, which will result in businesses operating at 25 percent capacity indoors.

Cowlitz County and Pierce County will also move back to Phase 2, according to a press release from Gov. Jay Inslee’s office. 

In Phase 2, outdoor dining is allowed but no more than six people can be at a table, according to the state’s coronavirus website. 

“We are so close to the end of the tunnel here, we have made tremendous progress and we must keep our focus,” Inslee said in the press release. “We can’t let up now. These are not punitive actions; they are to save lives and protect public health.”

To be moved back a phase, a county has to fail both metrics for case counts and hospitalizations, which Whitman County did. The next evaluation of phases will be conducted May 3, according to the press release.