No stay-at-home order for Washington on Friday, Inslee aide says
Gov. Jay Inslee will not issue a stay-at-home order or anything similar to that on Friday for Washington state, the governor’s Chief of Staff David Postman said.
It’s unclear when such an order would be made, he said.
Referring to the emergency proclamations that the governor has issued, Postman said: “It’s unlikely that’s what in place today will carry us through to the end of this outbreak. The question is, when do you do it, how do you do it and how much of the state do you cover in it? Those are the things that we balance every day.”
Postman’s comments came a day after California’s 40 million people were all but restricted to their homes, and hours after the governors of New York and Illinois issued similar orders that prohibit workers from reporting to work unless they perform essential services.
On March 16, Inslee announced a statewide closure of restaurants, bars, entertainment and recreational facilities that will last at least two weeks. Restaurants are allowed to provide take-out, drive-thru and delivery services, but no in-person dining is permitted.
“We’ve done a lot of the things you would see in those California counties in terms of what’s closed and what’s open,” Postman said. “The messaging was quite different. The shelter-in-place is very powerful and I think it does drive home a message to the individual that it’s about them. `We’re closing these businesses to protect people inside those businesses, but also to stop people from going there.’
“We don’t feel it’s necessary to take that next step (Friday) in terms of shutting down more businesses,” Postman added. “We are generally all going for the same goal, which is reducing the number of people who are coming into contact with other people.”
He noted that as of Thursday night, San Francisco residents could take their dogs to a groomer, which is not allowed now in Washington.
Earlier Friday, President Donald Trump said he saw no need for a national lock-down.
“Essentially you’ve done that in California. You’ve done that in New York. Those are two hotbeds,” he said. But, he added, “you go out to the Midwest, you go out to other locations, and they’re watching it on television, but they don’t have the same problems. They don’t have by any means the same problem.”
Trump said Washington state is a COVID-19 hotspot, but added “that was largely, if you look at it, it was one nursing home that had problems like you wouldn’t believe.” He referred to the outbreak at the Life Care Center of Kirkland that has been linked to 142 infections among residents, visitors and staff members and the deaths of 34 residents and one visitor.
Dr. Roger Stark, health care policy analyst for the nonprofit free market group the Washington Policy Center, noted in a blog post that government and businesses are working to expedite the diagnosis and treatment of the virus.
In an interview, Stark said because the nation does not have widespread testing to identify who has the virus, social distancing is needed and if people don’t do that, stay-at-home orders are a fall-back position.
“We’re in a real crisis here and so I think on a temporary basis, that is the purview of the government to do something like that,” said Stark, a retired physician who practiced in Tacoma. “I’m not sure state-by-state would be the way to do it. I think community-by-community perhaps, maybe county-by-county.”
Stark said he hopes government officials have the data to make those decisions on how much people’s activities should be restricted.
This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 2:09 PM with the headline "No stay-at-home order for Washington on Friday, Inslee aide says."