Inslee asks residents to skip family gatherings
Grocery stores are stocking their freezers with turkeys ahead of Thanksgiving, but public officials are warning of the dangers of indoor, family gatherings, and are asking Washingtonians to cancel holiday plans away from their own homes.
Emry Dinman/Columbia Basin Herald
OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee is asking Washington residents to forgo family gatherings this Thanksgiving and Christmas, as it is not safe to gather inside now due to the state’s rising number of COVID-19 cases.
“It’s just too dangerous to gather indoors,” Inslee said during a brief address to the state Thursday evening alongside his wife Trudi. “Please don’t have any family gatherings.”
Inslee said the weekly average of COVID-19 cases has doubled and November is just as “dangerous” as March for the spread of the pandemic.
Trudi described family gatherings — which the Inslees themselves will not be having this year — as “one more brick in the wall of infection.”
While the governor did not announce any new restrictions on business, school or civil activities, Inslee said he would announce new measures “in the next few days.”
According to a statement issued earlier Thursday by Deputy Press Secretary Mike Faulk, the governor’s office has been meeting with representatives of various sectors of the economy “for their input on proposals to restrict activities.”
However, any new restrictions are not likely to be announced until next week, possibly Monday at the earliest.
The Washington State Department of Health reported 3,345 new COVID-19 cases statewide on Wednesday, Nov. 11, the highest number of new cases since the disease was first reported in the U.S in late February.
In the same day, nearly 143,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported nationwide.
Earlier this week, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its partner BioNTech reported that their SARS-CoV-2 vaccine proved 90% successful in double-blind trials.
Both the governor and the first lady acknowledged that “this was a long and tumultuous year” and people were tired of dealing with the pandemic restrictions. But with news of a successful vaccine test, Inslee said “the cavalry is coming.”
“We’re all fatigued, and it’s okay to not feel okay right now,” Trudi said.
“Everybody can be a leader here,” Inslee added. “Every gathering will risk spreading COVID-19 until we wrestle the virus to the ground. Failing to contain this virus is not an option.”
The emergence of a likely vaccine means this year likely will be the only year people have to stay indoors and away from family members for the holidays.
“We only have to do this once,” Inslee said. “We have a lot more at our disposal to fight the virus.”
Because of that, Inslee said Washingtonians have a lot to be thankful for this year.
“We are not helpless in this fight,” the governor said.
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at [email protected].