RITZVILLE — The Adams County Commission is asking Gov. Jay Inslee to give the sparsely-populated county a variance from the governor’s COVID-19 reopening plan and allow the county to restart business sooner.

“From the beginning, Adams County has been committed to following the state’s guidance regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone here has worked diligently to slow the spread to safeguard the residents of our county and its cities and towns,” reads the letter.

“Adams County should be allowed to apply for a variance from the state to implement Phase 2 sooner, rather than later,” wrote the three members of the Adams County Commission.

Phase 2 of the governor’s plan would allow for restaurants to reopen at 50 percent capacity, as well as allow manufacturing to restart, salons and barbershops to reopen, and retail to resume.

Commissioners Roger Hartwig, Terrance Thompson and John Marshall are asking Inslee to grant the county a variance from the governor’s plan because of the economic hardship the closure has imposed on the sprawling county of roughly 20,000 people.

“Our economy will feel the adverse effects of COVID-19 for many years to come. Small business closures, farm raised commodities slowly deteriorating in storage due to a lack of demand, rising crime, and the declining overall mental health and well being of our residents is evidence enough we need to move forward to Phase 2 immediately,” they wrote.

Citing data from the state’s Employment Security Department, the commissioners said 14 percent of the county’s 8,200-strong workforce “have been forced to seek unemployment benefits rather than being productive.”

They also said that roughly 850 non-farm small businesses classified as “non-essential” need to be able to reopen because “they are essential to the economic vitality of this county.”