OLYMPIA–Three weeks ago, Southeast Washington dodged a bullet. Gov. Jay Inslee announced every other area of the state would move to Phase 2 of his COVID lockdown plan, allowing partial reopening of restaurants, gyms, and other businesses.

But not ours, because of alarmingly high hospitalization rates.

It was a mistake. A single hospital in Walla Walla misreported its COVID figures. If it was...