Gov. Inslee outlines process to lift statewide restrictions

Gov. Jay Inslee began to lay out his vision for the eventual safe return to public life amid the COVID-19 outbreak on Tuesday.

In a video, Inslee said that it is unlikely many restrictions under the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order will be modified before May 4. 

Rather, this plan is intended to be a framework for the loosening of restrictions contingent on a steady decrease of the spread of COVID-19.

“It will look more like a turn of the dial than a flip of the switch,” Inslee said in the address. “We’re going to take steps and then monitor to see whether they work or if we must continue to adapt.”

Depending on health projections for the spread of the virus, some distancing restrictions may be in place for weeks or months to come.

“In the coming days, we will receive additional health modeling projecting the course of this virus,” Inslee said. “We hope it will give us cause to begin lifting certain restrictions.”

The return to public life will occur in measured steps. 

The recovery plan begins with widely available testing for individuals who may have contracted COVID-19, tracing for those who have come into close contact with COVID-19 positive individuals, and isolation or quarantine for individuals who could transmit the virus.

However, a variety of barriers to accessing the necessary supplies have prevented Washington from processing more than 4,000 tests a day. For the contact-tracing plan to work, the state needs to be processing between 20,000 and 30,000 tests a day. Earlier Tuesday, the governor sent a letter to the vice president asking the White House to create a national testing system.

 

 

Read the rest of the plan on the governor’s Medium page.