COVID politics punishes Whitman County

Whitman County was placed in Phase 2 restrictions three weeks ago and we waited for a return to Phase 3, but now that isn’t going to happen.

Gov. Jay Inslee chickened out.

Facing a massive rollback to Phase 2 for Western Washington, meaning Seattle, Everett, and Olympia, he announced his decision to take a two-week pause on changes to counties’ COVID restrictions. Instead, all 39 counties in Washington will continue with their current phase designation.

It means Whitman County remains stuck with Phase 2 restrictions until future notice.

If the COVID phase designations were about health concern...