5 takeaways about COVID-19 from Gov. Inslee’s Friday news conference

Gov. Jay Inslee discussed the state’s phased approach to re-opening the economy Friday, as well as several other COVID-19-related topics. Here are 5 things to look for that could affect you.

3 more categories of businesses can reopen

The governor’s office on Friday released guidance memos for retail stores that can offer curbside pickup or run an e-commerce storefront, where goods are bought and sold via internet or telephone, with goods delivered directly to the customer.

Pet walking and landscaping companies also received rules for operations.

Those businesses can reopen as soon as they comply with the state’s safety and healthy requirements to protect employees and customers from the new coronavirus. They’re part of Inslee’s phase 1 reopening, which began on Tuesday.

5 counties can move ahead quicker

John Wiesman, the state Secretary of Health, on Friday approved applications from Columbia, Garfield, Lincoln, Ferry and Pend Oreille counties to move into Phase 2. Those counties have lower numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths, small populations and sufficient amounts of personal protective equipment and hospital capacity.

Businesses that can reopen in Phase 2 include retail with in-store purchases as long as restrictions are in place, including physical distancing such as 6-foot separations between registers, proper hygiene and screening employees for symptoms. Also restaurants can reopen with 50 percent capacity and table sizes no larger than 5.

For the rest of the state, Phase 2 is set to begin June 1.

Youth immunization rates have dropped during the pandemic

Providers in Washington’s Childhood Vaccine Program reported they administered 30 percent fewer vaccines to children and youth in March, compared with the same month in previous years.

“We’re hearing increasing reports that people are delaying appropriate health care because of COVID-19,” said Inslee. “We really need our children to be vaccinated. We can’t let one virus result in fewer children being protected against other very dangerous diseases.”

The Washington chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics said it is “very concerned that this alarming drop puts our communities at risk of another measles or pertussis outbreak.”

Jennifer Donahue, the chapter’s spokeswoman, said clinics around the state are taking measures to make sure families can come in safely to have their children get up to date on vaccines. That includes seeing patients for well visits first thing in the morning, using separate entrances for sick and well visits, and doing car-side care, she said.

Washington is ‘poised on that knife edge’

Although the state has made progress in fighting COVID-19, Inslee said the state is in a precarious position.

“We’re sort of poised on that knife edge, of whether we’re really going to wrestle this all the way to the ground,” he said.

Inslee met Friday morning with staff members of the Seattle-based Institute for Disease Modeling and he displayed two graphs they discussed during his Friday news conference.

One of them showed the effective reproductive rate of COVID-19 — referred to as R-naught (which is zero) — in western and eastern Washington.

The number was roughly three for each region in early March. That means each person testing positive for COVID-19 infected three other people. By late March, the number had dropped to 1 in both regions — one person infecting one other person.

The R-naught number declined below 1 in western Washington, but increased to 1 by April 19 — the last date on the chart. In eastern Washington, the line never dipped below 1, but began to increase in April.

“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.

“So this is a very challenging moment for us where we just cannot allow that line to go significantly above 1 or we will simply again see exponential growth,” Inslee said.

Inslee said there will be more data in a week or two.

Here comes the sun

Inslee said the weather forecast for the weekend is “unbelievably gorgeous.” Translation: sunny, with highs in the 70s and 80s.

“Under normal circumstances, that would only be a cause for celebration. But with COVID-19 lurking, we do have to hope people will both enjoy an amazing weekend and do it in a way that keeps themselves and their loved ones safe,” Inslee said.

The governor urged “good trail etiquette” in parks that have reopened, with people practicing social distancing — keeping at least 6 feet apart from others who aren’t in their household.

This story was originally published May 8, 2020 at 6:24 PM.