Phase 3 guidelines mean businesses can prepare for more customers

MONROE, Wash. - Business owners across our region are eager to move into Governor Jay Inslee’s Phase 3 reopening plan for both indoor and outdoor spaces like movie theaters, restaurants, dance studios, gyms and more.

The relaxed restrictions depend on new pandemic infection and hospitalization rates remaining below a dangerous threshold, but it means many businesses currently open can invite even more customers back inside.

Bliss Yoga Studio in downtown Monroe is nearly three years old. The owner was forced to close the doors due to the pandemic right before the studio could celebrate its second birthday.

Thanks to the new guidelines, owner Mariam Ames says she is ready to celebrate her business’s third birthday as North Sound enters Phase 3.

"We were able to open up to 5 people," she said, going on to say Phase 3 could mean a couple dozen could return to classes in person.

The new guidelines impact both outdoor and indoor gatherings. Specifics regarding varying metrics can be found here.

For businesses like Turning Pointe Dance Centre in Snohomish, studio floors are marked to keep students distanced.

Yet, the building housing the studio might limit capacity no matter if Snohomish County’s move to the next phase happens.

"We’ll be able to get a few more bodies in," said Tricia Volk, "But because our classrooms are still small, the numbers aren’t worth paying teachers."

At Bliss Yoga, Ames turned the lobby into a community space for students and others to sell crafts and other items. Welcoming is a theme that allows clients to heal, says Ames, in a place where bowls offer community a song that connects us all.

"Being able to come out safely and be together is necessary," she said.

This new reopening plan will be reviewed every three weeks, according to Inslee’s office.