by Carolyn Bick
Gov. Jay Inslee has proposed a slew of budgeting measures meant to address racial injustice across a broad swath of areas. These proposals, totaling $365 million, target everything from healthcare inequities — which the current novel coronavirus pandemic has laid bare — and environmental disparities to homelessness and even how insurance companies handle clients.
Continue reading Inslee Announces $365 Million in Equity Budgeting for 2021by Carolyn Bick
Amidst the wildfires and smoke blanketing the state, Washington State reached 2,000 deaths from COVID-19 and more than 80,000 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, Gov. Jay Inslee announced in a press conference on Sept. 15.
Continue reading Washingtonians’ Indoor Behavior Will Dictate COVID-19 Case Levels and Death Rates This Autumn, Inslee Saysby Carolyn Bick
Though his office unveiled a $40 million fund for undocumented workers earlier this week, Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee said in a press conference on Aug. 13 that the one-time payment fund won’t be available for undocumented workers until the autumn. He also said that the state has made available another $3 million in CARES Act funding for certain food production workers who have to quarantine themselves, due to infection from the novel coronavirus.
Continue reading Relief Fund for Undocumented Workers to Go Live in Autumn, Inslee Saysby Carolyn Bick
With the end of the federal government’s assistance plan and potentially severe cuts to federal unemployment aid looming, Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee said that the state is unable to plan for the fallout, because it doesn’t have the authority to do that.
Continue reading Washington State Unable to Plan For Potentially Drastic Cuts to Federal Unemployment Aid, Inslee Saysby Carolyn Bick
Washington State has reached a new milestone in the ongoing saga of the novel coronavirus pandemic. As of today, there have been 50,000 people who have tested positive for the virus, since the start of the pandemic.
This is not a good number.
Continue reading As State Hits 50,000-Case Milestone, South King County Appears to Be Next Potential Outbreak Hotspotby Carolyn Bick
Between June 9 and July 9, the rate of novel coronavirus cases in Washington State has doubled from the state’s previous peak in April. Despite this, with the exception of limiting gatherings, Gov. Jay Inslee has once again shied away from imposing more stringent regulations and measures or rolling counties back into earlier phases of the state’s Safe Start plan.
Continue reading COVID-19 Cases in Washington State Double to Twice April’s Peak in Less Than a Monthby Carolyn Bick
Washington State continues to see a dramatic rise in novel coronavirus cases, with most of the new cases now occurring in young people ages 20–29. But despite the rapidly increasing caseload statewide, Gov. Jay Inslee stopped short of moving counties back into earlier phases of the state’s Safe Start plan.
In a press conference on July 14, Inslee shared several graphs, including one that showed cases are continuing to increase. They are now at almost 112 cases per 100,000 people. Just last week, they sat at a little more than 95 cases. The rate of infection in western Washington is now more than 1.5 and just above 1 in eastern Washington. This means that one person is infecting a little fewer than two people in western Washington, and one person is infecting about one other person in eastern Washington.
Continue reading Most of the Continuing Increase in Novel Coronavirus Cases Throughout the State Is Among 20-Year-Oldsby Carolyn Bick
Sporting a Seahawks face mask, Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee in a July 7 press conference tried to reframe the state’s burgeoning novel coronavirus case rate in a more positive light, but the state’s current numbers still paint a bleak picture. As of this writing, the case rate is even higher than it was in April, at what had previously been the peak of the pandemic in the state.
Joined by Washington State Department of Health State Health Officer Dr. Kathy Lofy, Inslee showed a graph that showed a dramatic spike between June and today. As of the press conference, the state is seeing more than 95 cases per 100,000 Washingtonians in the last two weeks, which is about 20 more cases per 100,000 people than at the previous peak in April.
Continue reading As State’s COVID-19 Case Rate Surges Past April Numbers, King County Sees Increase in Cases Among Young Peopleby Carolyn Bick
A mask-clad Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee announced in a July 2 press conference that beginning on July 7, businesses will be legally required to enforce mask use among their patrons. He also said that all counties’ applications to move forward into a new Safe Start phase will be paused for two weeks starting immediately.
The announcements come as the number of novel coronavirus cases statewide continue to rise. In an earlier press conference, Public Health – Seattle & King County’s Public Health Officer Jeff Duchin revealed that cases in King County have more than doubled in the last two weeks, going from 40 per day to more than 100 per day, and that almost half these cases are in the City of Seattle alone. Most of the increase is among younger people. Duchin said that one-third of these recent increases are among young adults 20-29 years old, and more than half of all new cases are in people 29-39 years old.
Inslee called the surge across the state a “troubling spike,” and pointed to graphs that showed the number of cases in several counties are almost at or have surpassed the number of cases in April, when the virus was at its peak in the state. He also showed a graph that indicates the rate of transmission is once again increasing, and is at just above one in Western Washington and around 1.5 in Eastern Washington. This means in both parts of the state that one person is infecting more than one other person.
Continue reading Inslee Issues Mandate That All Businesses Require Mask Use Among Patrons, But Stops Short of Active Enforcementby Carolyn Bick
Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee did not rule out moving counties back to earlier phases of the state’s Safe Start plan and the possibility of instituting a mask-wearing mandate, if novel coronavirus cases across the state continue to rise.
Continue reading Inslee Prepared to Move Counties Back to Earlier Safe Start Phases, Mandate Mask Use
