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WA
To stop COVID-19, Washington implements measures not seen since Spanish flu
Today, 06:01 PM
Gov. Jay Inslee banned gatherings of over 250 people in the state’s three most populous counties.
by David Kroman & Lilly Fowler
March 11, 2020
To contain the spread of COVID-19, Washington state is turning to a technique rarely used in the century since the Spanish flu killed nearly 700,000 Americans — mandatory social distancing.
“These are tools from the past that still work,” said Julie Fischer, a professor at Georgetown University’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology. “We just haven’t had to use them in a long time.”
Gov. Jay Inslee announced Wednesday he is prohibiting gatherings of over 250 people in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, a nearly unprecedented move in peacetime liberal democracies and one that represents a significant escalation in the effort to contain the new coronavirus. The policy is set to last until the end of the month, but will likely be extended, he said.
The steps are necessary to control the COVID-19 outbreak, said Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer with Public Health — Seattle & King County. He called it the “infectious disease equivalent of a major earthquake that will shake us for weeks and weeks.”
Mandating social distancing, while uncomfortable, can slow the disease’s spread and ease the impact on hospitals and the vulnerable public, Duchin said.
https://crosscut.com/2020/03/stop-covid-19-washington-implements-measures-not-seen-spanish-flu