4:59 PM: That’s the TVW livestream of Gov. Inslee announcing his plan for the state’s recovery. We’ll be adding coverage notes of both his speech and a media Q&A scheduled at 5:45 pm.
“The spread of COVID-19 is likely declining in Washington,” the governor says he’s been told. He acknowledges that people are eager to get back to work and reopen businesses. He says reopening will be “more like turning a dial than flipping a switch.” But “we will not be able to lift many of the restrictions by May 4th.”
He says it will be a “strategic” recovery plan that “begins with widely available testing for individuals who may have had COVID-19” and contact tracing that he says 1,500 people will be working on “by the second week of May.” But the state is lacking in testing supplies – it has “more lab capacity than test kits,” he says. About 4,000 tests are being processed per day and that should be more like 20,000, he says.
Workplaces “are going to look much different” until there’s a vaccine, he says. “We’re going to provide guidance to let industries know when and how they can reopen. … We’re going to have to steel ourselves against this virus … for many months.” He says many innovations will be needed for “life in the era of COVID-19.” He will be appointing “three groups consisting of key community leaders” soon, focused on reopening as well as social services.
He concludes his speech at 5:10 pm with no mention of dates. We’ll pick up the coverage again when his media Q&A, scheduled for 5:45 pm, begins.
5:45 PM: The video window above now shows the governor’s speech, archived. We are listening to the media briefing via phone. The governor’s chief of staff David Postman reiterates what the governor mentioned as three areas that will likely see relaxed restrictions in the “near term” – elective surgery, residential construction, and outdoor recreation.
Overall “it’s not going to be a simple process” of restarting multiple industries, he says, “lot of work to be done on that.”
First question is about time frames. “Some of the things the governor mentioned could happen before May 4th.” What kind of a heads-up would other industries get? The state would want to “work with them so they are ready when it’s time.” How soon can the testing needs mentioned by the governor get ramped up? That’s unknown because of “supply chain issues.”
Then: What “modeling” was the governor referring to, that he hopes to see later this week for potential decision-making? One # is the infection rate – they’re looking for each infected person to be infecting fewer than one other.
Then: What does “outdoor recreation” refer to? Too soon to say. After that, another question trying to clarify time frames. “We have work to do between now and May 4th on” the aforementioned three things, the chief of staff says, but no elaboration beyond that.
6:05 PM: As for working toward reopening more businesses, the Commerce Department director says they want to hear from businesses – especially” “small and main-street businesses” about what they need to operate safely.
Then: What industries after medical and construction? “We don’t have that answer,” says Postman. Can cities/counties go rogue and reopen before the state gives its OK? They can be stricter, but not looser, than the state requires, he says. (Franklin County is going rogue and Postman says they are “preparing a letter” because “it’s not legal.” He adds that it’s important to hear from local officials who support the restrictions to speak up, too.)
6:24 PM: Another question about the frustration felt by people who think it’s time to reopen; Postman says the governor understands that, but protests like the one last weekend in Olympia are not going to change their “data-driven” course. “Nobody should think they are out of the woods on this,” he warns, even the counties that have not been hit hard. He also says he hopes people will be encouraged by some restrictions possibly lifting in the “days or week ahead.”
The Q&A ends at 6:26 pm.
8:14 PM: Here’s the governor’s office’s writeup, which in turn links to this “policy brief” (PDF).
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