2:36 PM: Click into the video window for Governor Inslee‘s media briefing, with guests from state Parks, Public Lands, and Fish and Wildlife. We’ll update as it goes.
He says he’s announcing a “partial reopening of outdoor recreation” starting on May 5th.
-day use of state parks
-day use of public lands
-day use of state fish and wildlife areas
“Any additional relaxing” would depend on “data and compliance,” he says, and warns “this is not a return to normal.” He says it’s about “data, not dates.” Team sports, events, camping, gatherings are NOT resuming, he stresses. He also urges people to continue to limit travel,”not make overnight trips” to recreation areas. He says golf will be OK if you’re playing with one other non-related person.
Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz speaks next, saying she’s hopeful this is a “first step toward normalcy,” but urging visitors to bring their own sanitizer, masks, etc., and to continue practicing distancing.
The next guest, Fish and Wildlife director Kelly Susewind, says most – but not all – hunting and fishing seasons will open (but not Areas 1-4 yet). He reiterates that there’ll be no camping – “stick with day trips.”
It’s also noted that not all state parks will reopen – coastal parks, for example.
2:56 PM: The governor didn’t say anything about extending the stay-home order (which expires in a week), so that’s the first question he’s asked. “We are a long ways from the end of this virus, and we are going to have to maintain plenty of restrictions after May 4th,” he said, without a “yes” or “no” answer, but saying he’ll have more to say within a few days.
He’s asked what data told him it’s OK to partially reopen recreation, and he launched into a variety off stats, good and not-so-good. “We are SO far from being able to turn this off like a light switch,” he warns. He also says the state is still far short of the testing capability he would like to have, though he says he received a federal assuurance that more we would be on the way within a few weeks.
What about elective surgery, which he had recently mentioned as something else that might reopen soon? “We are trying to come up with a protocol” to allow them without taking away from PPE that’s needed by those working on the most urgent health-care needs. “We’re still talking with stakeholders.”
What about haircutters? The governor gives a fairly nonspecific answer – that all depends “when we drive this [infection] number down small enough” that contact tracing and isolation are possible, how much social distancing will be possible, what protocols can be developed.
3:13 PM: The governor is asked why he can’t share specific benchmarks he’s looking at for decisions on reopening more of the state. “Going forward, we’re going to be looking at opening several more industries,” he says without naming them, saying “multiple metrics” are involved – not just the infection rate, but also the health-care system’s status, the testing/tracing capabilities – “you have to consider all those together.” The next questioner asks him for specific numbers. “There’s no one number,” Inslee reiterates, but mentions some such as the number of tests that come back positive, which he says is now close to 8 percent but needs to be lower. “It is not enough for our health and our safety to just eliminate social distancing” – contact tracing and isolation of people exposed, and their families, will be needed for a long time, he says.
The briefing ends at 3:25 pm. As always, the video should be available for playback soon in the same window above, and we will add links to whatever the governor’s office posts to spell out today’s announcements. (Added: Here’s a link.)
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