Gov. Jay Inslee gives an address on Tuesday night.
Gov. Jay Inslee laid out what some of the first steps toward recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic would look like, though any official easing of restrictions in place to stop the spread of the disease will not happen until favorable turns in data show a continuing decline in the spread of the novel coronavirus, he said.
Inslee gave an address today, April 21, providing an update on Washington’s COVID-19 response.
“Some of you watching right now understandably want to know when you can move on,” Inslee acknowledged, mentioning the strain on those out of work needing to pay rent and bills and businesses anxious to reopen their doors. The “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order as well as others preceding it have put a halt to many industries and kept many people home for nearly a month as of the address.
Inslee said he heard from Washington State Health Officer Kathy Lofy who told him data was showing a likely decline in COVID-19 spread based on confirmed cases, hospitalizations and deaths related to the disease. That data will steer what restrictions will be removed, Inslee said, further explaining their removal would “look more like the turning of a dial than the flip of a switch,” reiterating a similar phrase from a press conference last week.
Inslee said there will need to be careful monitoring of any easing of restrictions, adding that many in place were not likely to be relieved at the May 4 date the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order was expanded to previously. He made no official extension to the order, however.
Inslee gave some examples of likely first steps, such as the allowance of elective medical procedures to resume given ample personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers, allowance of more outdoor activity and the removal of restrictions on limited construction industry given safety measures being put in place.
Inslee said that those measures could be taken if favorable data on the COVID-19 spread came “in the next few days.” He added that current data showed that if all restrictions were lifted now, or even in the next two weeks, “this decline would almost certainly stop, and the spread of COVID-19 would go up.”
Between the state and local jurisdictions, Inslee said he expected roughly 1,500 workers will be focused on contact tracing for those who have been around confirmed cases of COVID-19 by the second week of May. Tracing those who are potential carriers of the disease is part of ongoing actions the state will be taking for a more targeted approach to stopping the disease’s spread, he said
Inslee said that workforce would be a “rapid-response team” akin to a “fire brigade” dedicated to handle COVID-19 spread.
“When your house catches fire, you call the fire department, and they come quickly,” Inslee said, saying workers would be pooled from the Washington State Department of Health, local health jurisdictions, the Washington National Guard, volunteer healthcare workers and others.
In order for that workforce to be successful, Inslee said that the state still needs to expand testing ability, mentioning that Washington’s laboratory capacity is greater than the number of test kits available. From the current roughly 4,000 tests processed daily, the governor said that the number should be close to the 20,000 to 30,000 range.
Until a COVID-19 vaccine is in place, Inslee said that businesses that are allowed to reopen will have to follow requirements on ample social distancing, screening, rigorous cleaning standards and remote work opportunities. He said his office will provide guidance on when and how those businesses can reopen.
Inslee also said he will be appointing community leaders to groups that will advise his office on the healthcare system, on safely reopening industries shuttered by COVID-19 response, and on providing social support for vulnerable populations.
Inslee said that support will be necessary for those vulnerable to severe complications from COVID-19, food banks, housing and behavioral health services.
“The effects of this pandemic are more than just our immune systems and our bank accounts,” Inslee said.
“We are going to have to steel ourselves against this virus for quite some time,” Inslee said, adding that the daily lives of Washingtonians will remain affected by COVID-19 for months. He added that so far the state’s response had been “exemplary,” reiterating a reliance on a data-driven approach to continue that success.
“We know that only science, and data, and informed reasoning, and confidence in ourselves is going to lift ourselves out of this crisis,” Inslee said.
GOP lawmakers call for special session
Prior to Inslee’s address, several Republican lawmakers held a remote press conference regarding a call for a special session to address the impacts of COVID-19 on the state.
State Sen. Phil Fortunato, R-Auburn, said that a special session has never been called by the Legislature itself, as usually it was something done by the governor. It would require a two-thirds vote of all lawmakers, he said, adding he had sent out a letter asking for their approval.
Fortunato said that the scope of the session will have to be focused on specific issues, which he said would be on agreement or disagreement on Gov. Jay Inslee’s proclamations such as the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order, and budget issues.
“Washington state’s in a crisis mode right now, and I think that the people of Washington state expect their Legislature to go back to work to try to address many of the issues that can’t be addressed via an executive order,” Sen. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale, said, mentioning the tax burden on small businesses and the budget shortfall the state is likely to face at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have to protect the health of the people, but we also have to be taking steps right now to start bringing manufacturing jobs home from China, start looking at ways to cut our budgets in Olympia, and that really requires the Legislature coming back into session,” Ericksen said, adding he feels it is the responsible thing for lawmakers to take “immediate” action in a special session.
“Small businesses are shutting their doors; they’re going bankrupt,” Ericksen said. Fortunato said constituents were “screaming that they want to go back to work.”
“From my point of view, if a business has a safety protocol in place, they run it by the department of health, they get the nod, they get to go back to work,” Fortunato said. He gave the example of essential businesses such as Costco that have taken extensive measures to prevent COVID-19 spread as an example of what other businesses can do when re-opened.
“They have a protocol in place to be dealing with this issue. Now, why can’t a car dealership do that? Why can’t the other little, local businesses do that?” Fortunato said.
Regarding economic relief, State Rep. Jesse Young, R-Gig Harbor, said that the $200 million COVID-19 response passed at the end of this year’s regular session “was always meant to be the first start” for a full response.
Young said that the amount of data available at the present was enough to take action, explaining that the “lag time” from more information will likely do more harm than good. With response funds drying up and a lack of options at the executive level, a special session is necessary to address the existing needs of the state for economic recovery, Young said.
“To not do that is really shirking our responsibilities. There are people out there hurting,” Young said, adding that apart from economic impacts, those with non-emergency healthcare needs may see their ailments progress into emergency ones due to the restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 response focus.
Rep. Vicki Kraft, R-Vancouver, said around the end of March she had called on House leaders for a special session due to the apparent impacts of COVID-19 even at that point. She mentioned that the existing legislative response wasn’t enough for PPE needs and testing, adding that from a financial perspective it is unreasonable to wait for the federal government to bail out the state.
“We have some accountability to our people to try to get them funding quickly within the means that we have,” Kraft said. She said she feels a “tremendous amount of concern” from constituent small businesses on the need to get back to work as soon as possible.
Kraft said she has heard concerns from some that a special session would open the door to legislation unfavorable to Republicans being pushed through by Democrats, mentioning a state income tax.
“If they really, seriously are going to try to threaten something like that, then let them, because as a majority they will own that,” Kraft said. “There is not one person, not one business at all — small business especially — in our state, that I think at this time especially would welcome that.”
“This should be a bipartisan effort. We all have constituents that are hurting on every level,” Kraft said.
To embrace social distancing guidelines Fortunato said he addressed the possibility of a “virtual” special session, saying he had sent a letter to state Attorney General Bob Ferguson to ask about its constitutionality.
Young noted that the only mandatory in-person responsibility will be on making a vote, explaining that all the other legislative work could be done remotely.
“That is typical for most special sessions,” Young said.
Fortunato said he’s heard frustration from already-established economic recovery task forces, both of industries and lawmakers, that their efforts weren’t being recognized by Inslee.
“If the governor’s not going to move, how can we as legislators make him move, or move ourselves without him?” Fortunato said, adding that if Inslee himself made the call for a special session, “so be it.”
