Gov. Jay Inslee Tuesday announced a two-week pause in the state’s phased reopening plan.

“This means all counties for the next two weeks will stay in their current phase they’re in this morning,” he said. “At the end of the two week pause we’ll evaluate the metrics at that time.”

That means both Grays Harbor and Pacific counties will remain in Phase 3 at least through May 18. The counties that moved back into Phase 2 — Cowlitz, Pierce and Whitman — three weeks ago will remain in Phase 2 for two more weeks.

Inslee said the pause was decided upon after looking at daily data over the past two weeks in particular that shows a recent fourth surge in cases is leveling off.

“For the past several weeks we observed a fourth wave of COVID developing, and the most recent data in the last few days, including what the Department of Health observed over the weekend, shows a potential plateauing of COVID in the state of Washington, which is good news,” said Inslee.

He showed a graph of the epidemiological curve, pointing out the surges in December and January. Data from the last “week or two,” said Inslee, may even indicate a slight decline in new cases statewide, though there has been an increase in hospitalizations.

Locally, as of Monday, Harbor Regional Health Community Hospital in Aberdeen had adequate capacity, “but we did have five COVID positive patients hospitalized this morning, where we have typically been seeing one or two at the most for weeks,” said hospital spokesman Chris Majors. “It is definitely worth noting and keeping an eye on.”

Inslee said the positive trend in cases is the result of following masking and social distancing protocols and, especially, vaccinations.

“We’re at the intersection of progress and failure, and we cannot veer from the path of success,” he said. “We know vaccines are the ticket to fully reopening,” and as vaccination demand has declined he urged all to get their vaccinations.

“There is reason to have hope that if we were to continue our progress on vaccinations that some time in the summer we could potentially have much more normal activities in our state, but that’s dependent on continuing to (raise) the vaccination rate,” said Inslee.

Inslee noted that the state’s COVID-19 death rate has diminished, and linked that to prioritizing early vaccinations to the most vulnerable populations. According to the Department of Health, just under 70% of the state’s population age 65 and older has been fully vaccinated, and more than 76% has at least initiated vaccination. In people age 50-64, just under 60% have initiated vaccination, and more than 43% are fully vaccinated.

The metrics used by the state for phasing include the number of new COVID-19 cases reported per 100,000 population over a two week span. Tuesday, that number for Grays Harbor County was 187.4. Before the pause was announced Tuesday, the county was still below the maximum number in that metric, 200, to remain in Phase 3.

The second metric is number of new hospitalizations over the previous week per 100,000 population. That maximum to remain in Phase 3 is five, and county’s number as used for the most recent phase evaluation was between one and two.