Inslee warns more action may be necessary in COVID-19 battle

OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee said late Friday that while the vast majority of Washington’s 7 million residents are complying with a flurry of orders this week closing schools, entertainment and large gatherings, he is still concerned that “some parts of the state” are not taking the COVID-19 outbreak seriously enough.

“People are still gathering, ignoring restaurant and gathering orders and common sense crucial to halt the spread and stave off disaster,” he said.

Inslee said that while he was not issuing any “legal binding orders” — no official proclamations related to the emergency — on Friday, he warned residents he “may be back soon” with more proclamations, possibly the kind of statewide “shelter-in-place” order that the governors of California and New York have issued for their states.

“We are starting to look at what it would look like to make that decision,” he said. “We need everyone to volunteer for that army (fighting the virus), so we might avoid having to make those decisions.”

“If it’s not cutting the mustard, there may be further orders coming,” Inslee added.

Over the last week, Inslee has issued orders closing the state’s schools until the last week of April, as well as salons, restaurants, bars and other entertainment venues as well as banning all gatherings over 50 — including church services — in order to slow the spread of COVID-19.

“We need to change the way we live temporarily to save lives,” Inslee said during a late Friday press conference. “We are all potential carriers and all potential victims.”

“I am asking, pleading, stay home unless it is necessary for you to go out,” he said. “We’ve got to get serious about this virus, and change the way we do business and family life in this state.”

Inslee said he was working on a gubernatorial proclamation that would give workers 65 or older or who have “underlying health conditions” the ability to leave work and receive both financial protections and retain their jobs when the crisis abates.

“You have a right to stay home and protect yourself, and I urge you to do so,” Inslee said.

Inslee said his office would make any decision on a statewide “shelter-in-place” order based on data he and his staff review every day.

For example, Inslee said traffic data from toll booths around the state, which he said are a “good proxy for social interactions,” show that while traffic is down over 60 percent in some places, it’s only fallen by 20 percent in others, or 5 percent on a portion of the I-5 corridor.

“That is not enough,” he said.

The governor also said roughly 3,500 people are being tested every day for COVID-19 in Washington. So far, 20,742 people have been tested, and only 7 percent — or 1,452 people — have tested positive for the virus.

“That doesn’t mean we are out of the woods,” he said. “I have no confidence that we have beaten the virus, and an explosion remains possible.”

As of Friday afternoon, the Grant County Health District reported 11 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Grant County.