Inslee: State is at toughest point in fight against COVID-19

OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee on Friday eased restrictions on more businesses as the state continues to reopen.

Inslee’s office released guidelines allowing curbside pickup at retail stores and commercial landscaping. The governor also walked through public health data that shows Washington may be plateauing in its fight against the coronavirus. With possibly the hottest weekend of the year approaching, state and local officials are pleading with residents to continue social distancing.

And if your mom lives elsewhere, it’s still too early to give her a hug for Mother’s Day, he said during a news conference.

“We are in maybe the hardest place in the course of this disease,” Inslee said. “It’s hardest because we’ve had some sort of early victories against this virus, and now is the point where it would be really easy for us to let up in our efforts. But I really don’t believe that in Washington we should snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. We don’t want to have to do this twice.”

Previously, construction, auto sales, car washes, drive-in religious services and outdoor activities like hiking, hunting, fishing and golfing have been allowed, with specific safety criteria.

The governor’s stay-home order is set to expire May 31, but social distancing measures will remain in place beyond then, as the state continues its phased approach to reopening businesses.

While public health data has shown progress in the fight against COVID-19, one statistic is either leveling off or increasing across the state. It’s the COVID-19 R-naught, which represents the number of people to which a person will spread the virus.

At the virus’ peak in late March, the R-naught was at about three, meaning the average infected person spread the virus to three others. Now, it’s nearly one, but a model shows the number could start to rise as restrictions begin to ease.

“What that means is the number of people who will be infected and the number of people who will lose their lives is going to rise again in the state of Washington, unless we find some other measure to restrain the rate of the infection,” Inslee said. “This is a very challenging moment for us.”

As of Friday, there are 2,666 confirmed coronavirus cases in Snohomish County, the health district reported, with at least 115 deaths. More than 1,700 people have recovered from the virus. Statewide, there are 16,388 confirmed cases with at least 905 deaths, the Department of Health said Thursday.

Meanwhile, Snohomish County leaders are urging the public to continue social distancing as they head outside when this weekend’s temperatures are expected to reach the mid-80s.

“We don’t want to have to dial back restrictions in our parks, but we want to be responsible,” Executive Dave Somers said during a Friday call with reporters. “Lives literally depend on it.”

Expanding your social circle outside your household could cause exponential spread of the virus, Health Officer Dr. Chris Spitters said.

“As painful as it is, and I hate to be a stick in the mud about it, but we really do need families to maintain this distancing,” Spitters said.

The second phase of the governor’s plan will allow barbershops, nail salons and restaurants at 50% capacity to reopen, as well as some in-store retail purchases and new construction.

The state could enter that stage as early as June 1.

Before businesses or job sites can reopen, the governor’s office needs to release industry-specific safety guidelines. Some businesses have complained that the process takes too long.

“I know there’s huge frustration on this,” Inslee said. “It’s enormously frustrating, but I’ve been really pleased that leaders are working together on finding a way forward.”

Though some decisions are out of the governor’s control.

Angel of the Winds Casino Resort will open Wednesday at half capacity, the Stillaguamish Tribe announced earlier this week.

To get to phase two of the governor’s plan, Inslee is relying on public health data to show continued drops in infections, hospitalizations and deaths, as well as an increase in testing and contact tracing.

At least three weeks must pass before the state will move to another phase. Health experts say that’s the time it takes to get an accurate picture of the disease’s spread. A reported case could come from an infection that occurred a week or two before the individual was tested. Additionally, results take days to process.

Previously, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence promised the governor that Washington would receive a million swabs for tests, Inslee said.

This week, the state received 37,000 swabs from the federal government, Inslee said. Another 60,000 will come next week, followed by weekly shipments of more than 100,000.

“This is really good news and we appreciate that this is coming in,” the governor said. “But we have to increase the level of this supply because as we come out of this and reopen our economy, we’ll have even more need for testing as people go back to school and people go back to work.”

The state has also assembled an army of 1,500 contact tracers, about half of which come from the National Guard.

In Snohomish County, if someone tests positive, they receive a phone call from the health district or state Department of Health with advice on isolating and coronavirus facts. To help with contact tracing, staff ask for the patient’s name, date of birth, address, occupation and other information.

The health district has 15 people working on contact tracing, Spitters said. The goal is to get to 30.

“With that, we believe we’ll be able to handle current case loads just fine,” he said.

Locally, the health district is shifting away from its plan to operate twice-a-week drive-thru testing at various sites throughout the county.

Previous plans called for mobile testing to continue next week in north Snohomish County. Instead, officials are making plans for larger drive-thru testing sites, similar to the one previously at Everett Memorial Stadium.

Last week, nearly 100 people were tested outside a health district office in Lynnwood.

On Wednesday, 36 people were tested in the Sno-Isle Library parking lot in Monroe, Spitters said. All results came back negative for the virus. Fifteen were scheduled for tests Friday.

The health district will also stop using its two Abbott Laboratories testing machines, which can produce results in 15 minutes.

The decision will increase the amount of tests administered per day.

Currently, health district staff and volunteers can process three to four tests per hour with the Abbott machines. By sending swabs to public health labs, hundreds of people can be tested daily.

However, results will take days instead of minutes.

Locally, Spitters addressed coronavirus rumors he’s seen on social media.

First, the quarantine and isolation facility at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett is meant for people who have nowhere to go if they test positive, or can’t reasonably isolate themselves from at-risk household members, he said.

As of Friday, four people were being treated at the arena.

“The vast, vast majority of individuals who test positive are quarantined at their homes,” Spitters said. “Please don’t let that dissuade you from getting tested.”

He added that health care workers are not transmitting the virus to patients seeking tests.

Also on Friday, the state unveiled 300 drive-in Wi-Fi hotspots in library parking lots across Washington, including every Snohomish County library.

Residents can drive to the parking lot and access the internet for remote learning, telehealth appointments, job searches, unemployment filing, census participation and more.

For more information, visit www.driveinwifi.wa.gov.

Joey Thompson: 425-339-3449; jthompson@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @byjoeythompson.