Inslee says elective surgeries, outdoor recreation and some construction could restart as Washington begins to recover from coronavirus

The Seattle Times ^ | April 21, 2020 | Joseph O’Sullivan and Ryan Blethen

[SoCalCynic]

OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee Tuesday evening announced a road map for reopening Washington’s economy that could soon allow the return of some elective surgeries, outdoor recreation and certain construction projects.

In a 5 p.m. televised public address, Inslee didn’t say when the stay-at-home order — scheduled to lift at the end of the day on May 4 — might start to be rolled back. The plan would only move forward, he said, once cases of the new coronavirus have fallen enough that the state is able to manage future outbreaks.

But Inslee said that data on cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, was beginning to look favorable.

If that continues, Inslee said, elective surgeries could begin again soon, as well as some outdoor recreation. Meanwhile, the governor’s office has agreed upon a plan with the construction industry and labor unions, “allowing limited return to construction with safety measures in place,” he said.

[SoCalCynic]

Lots of waffles, mights and ifs but at least not a definite extension

[Jeff Chandler]

[bigbob]

Wonder if they’ll say he’s got blood on his hands?

[cherry]

oh thankyou dear leader for allowing us rabble to go fishing...

and thankyou dear leader for allowing us to get our surgeries done....

[Wally_Kalbacken]

The late, great Murray Hamilton.

[M1911A1]

If the voters scare him enough, Jay might appear to do the right thing.

He’s a snake, so he can’t be trusted. My guess is the Trump admin has proof that he’s in bed with the Chicoms.

[ConservativeInPA]

Mighty white of him. Thank you, Lord, king, supreme master, ignorant little f (I’ll stop showing respect there.)

[HighSierra5]

So you can soon have your pee pee removed and a wee wee installed instead. Oh goody gumdrops!

[goodnesswins]

And, in Oregon we have under 80 covid deaths compared to Washington 682...and our lockup continues...except for talk.

[jonascord]

I believe Jay just blinked...

[DoodleBob]

By almost any rational metric, Washington is a COVID-19 success story. Kings County basically was the first municipality to tell citizens to stay home in early March. Many thought it was overkill. And yet, adjusted for size, Washington has the lowest fatality count of any municipality that has had 1,000+ adjusted fatalities for at least 27 days.

Mayor Vaughn clearly looked the other way when faced with the evidence. Nobody is arguing for rampant swimming. And based on the data I'd say Brody has blown the head off of the shark.

[Jeff Chandler]

I'd say Brody has blown the head off of the shark.

Ah, but you fail to assume. Isn't it inevitable there will be a Jaws 2? And worse -- Jaws 3-D!

Then I think Charles Bronson gets involved somehow in Jaws: The Revenge.

[DoodleBob]

But by the very nature of an island, there will ALWAYS be risk, there will always be lurking danger....shark, hurricane, elitists like Obama and Kerry etc. Further, the lifeblood of Amity is tourism. It's a tough call, but everyone who ever goes into the water knows there is a chance they'll be fish food. We hope and pray the island has taken precautions, and just in case they haven't we take our own precautions.

In the end, unless it's Australia we usually make it back to the hotel by sundown.

COVID-19 is with us, and it may not totally die out. We understand her better now, and the choice is ours: shut down the beaches forever or manage through like Paul Kersey?

[cherry]

let me tell you...Idaho is going to open before aWash and there are competing indian casinos....the aWash casinos make big rat donations....they will not let the Idaho indian casino get a leg up....

[cherry]

a good number of the aWash deaths are nursing home patients....Inslee had nothing to do with a virus running its course....

[freebird5850]

Just part of the plan...The deaths will be considered as acceptable losses to ease the strain of having to pay unemployment after all the Boeing workers forced back to work catch second wave of civic and die.

[Yaelle]

Yeah they don’t understand that elective surgery isn’t just boob jobs or face lifts. It’s knee surgery, even brain surgery, that isn’t “emergency.”

[freebird5850]

Covid.

[DoodleBob]

Please note I didn't credit the Guv and I'm not an unemployed barista from Starbucks in Seattle. Nothing is costless. As you note the initial problems were from nursing homes and as I note it was the county and not the state that took action.

But here we are. The data are strong and we should unleash the economic beast. Keeping it locked down further would not be a data-driven decision.

[buffyt]

We have had ZERO cases of this virus in our area.