Steve Lookner
@lookner
44 new cases and 4 new deaths in King County, Washington, including 3 deaths at LifeCare nursing home and 1 death at a different care & rehab center
Gov. Jay Inslee ordered a halt Wednesday to all gatherings of more than 250 people in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, and ordered schools across the state to immediately begin contingency planning for potential closures in the next several days.
The moves mark the strongest action the state has taken to date to try to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus in the Puget Sound region, which has become the epicenter of a burgeoning national crisis.
Shortly after Inslee’s announcement, Seattle Public Schools, the state’s largest school district, announced that schools would close for a minimum of two weeks.
During a March 11 press conference, Gov. Jay Inslee ordered a halt to all gatherings of more than 250 people in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties.
Flanked by the leaders of Seattle, Tacoma and Everett, and of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, Inslee said he was ordering the cancellation of large church services, sporting events, concerts, festivals and conventions.
“Today I am ordering, pursuant to my emergency powers, that certain events in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties with more than 250 people are prohibited by order of the governor,” Inslee said, at a King County government building in downtown Seattle. The three counties are “experiencing significant community transmission, significant outbreaks and they are large population centers.”