Government officials planning next phase in virus battle

With new COVID-19 infections dropping, state and local governments are planning for the next stage of the pandemic – one in which some social distancing restrictions are eased while targeted containment measures keep the number of new infections in check. The governor and the Whatcom County Health Department have outlined some goals for lifting restrictions.

In a televised announcement on April 21, governor Jay Inslee suggested that some restrictions could be lifted soon, but that “not many restrictions would be lifted by May 4.” Elective surgeries, construction and more outdoor recreation could start soon, he said. Fishing is closed throughout the state, some public lands are closed and many cities have closed playgrounds and basketball courts. The state has a plan to allow construction to start in a limited way with safety measures in place, the governor said.

Without targeted measures to contain the virus’ spread, the rate of new infections will climb as soon as restrictions are lifted, the governor said. To find new infections and stop them from spreading, the state is working to expand its ability to test widely, isolate those who are infected, identify those they came into contact with and quarantine those contacts.

While the state is making progress, it lacks test kits – the swabs, sterile tubes and viral test medium needed to collect a sample and transport it to a lab. “The simple fact is that the nation is sorely lacking test kits, and today I sent a letter to the vice president saying as much,” Inslee said.

Between state and local health departments, the governor expected that by the second week of May, 1,500 workers would be trained on “contact tracing,” the process of identifying who infected individuals have come into contact with, which is currently done primarily through phone interviews.

Whatcom County Health Department officials outlined similar local requirements in a virtual press briefing on April 20. Cindy Hollinsworth, communicable disease and epidemiology manager, said the county is working to expand community testing sites and helping health care providers set up their own sites. As of last week, about 1,000 people per week could get tested in Whatcom County, she said. The health department is also training community health staff to do contact tracing.

A new health department task force will help businesses “reopen and feel confident they can keep staff and customers safe,” health department director Erika Lautenbach said at the press briefing. The health department plans to put out more information this week for those interested in joining the task force.

New infections decreasing in Whatcom County

To date, Whatcom County has 280 confirmed cases and 27 deaths from the respiratory illness, and the number of new infections per week is decreasing.

During the week beginning April 12, the health department reported 11 new cases. The highest weekly total occurred the week of March 22, when the health department reported 107 total cases.

Statewide, 112,282 people have tested positive for the virus and 682 had died as of April 21, according to the state department of health. In the U.S., about 776,000 people have tested positive and more than 41,000 have died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of April 21, 1,724 in B.C. had tested positive, and 87 had died, according to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

Border restrictions extended 30 more days

Restrictions on non-essential travel across the northern border have been extended for 30 additional days, after they were due to expire on April 20.

In a statement posted to the Department of Homeland Security website on April 20, acting secretary Chad Wolf said that the decision to extend the border restrictions was mutual.

“In close collaboration, the U.S., Mexico and Canada have each agreed to extend restrictions on non-essential travel across their shared borders for 30 additional days,” Wolf said. “As President Trump stated last week, border control, travel restrictions and other limitations remain critical to slowing the spread and allowing the phased opening of the country.”

As of April 22, there was no official statement about the extension on the main page of the Canada Border Services Agency website. Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau initially announced the extension at an April 18 briefing in Ottawa.

“The agreement is the same terms,” Trudeau reportedly said. “It’s just extended for another 30 days. It will ensure we continue to get essential goods and services back and forth across the border.”

County prepares for drop in revenue

Whatcom County executive Satpal Sidhu has implemented a hiring freeze, a postponement of existing contracts and other immediate steps to decrease county operating costs in the face of falling tax revenues, he said in an April 21 press release. 

“Our organization will continue to prioritize the emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the economy idles, we are immediately implementing measures designed to decrease our operating costs,” Sidhu said in the press release. “Our objectives are to prepare our organization to weather the financial impacts of this emergency, keep our organization intact, cohesive and resume expected operations that serve our community.”

In addition to a hiring freeze and postponement of contracts, the county is reducing supply purchases and discretionary spending, and is saving on personnel expenses through schedule adjustments.

The county anticipates that property tax collections will be about two-thirds of normal levels for April, and that sales tax revenue will be cut in half through April and May, in addition to declines in other revenue sources.

“We learned from the last recession that the quicker we act in a fiscally prudent manner with cost reductions, the better financial health we will have in the long term,” Sidhu said.

UW model suggests state can ease social distancing May 25

A state-by-state analysis from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) released April 21 suggests that Washington state can relax some social distancing measures starting the week of Monday, May 25.

The IHME model uses one infection per million people as a threshold for when social distancing can be relaxed, but it only recommends making changes at that point if containment measures are in place to stop a resurgence of the virus. Containment measures include extensive testing, interviews to determine who infected individuals have come into contact with (known as “contact tracing”) and isolation of new cases.

In the first wave of the outbreak, Washington state went from one case per million to more than 600 per million in a month, from February 28 to March 28, according to data from the state department of health. Schools and businesses were open for much of that time; the governor announced statewide school closures on March 13 and issued a stay-home order on March 23.

A previous version of the model suggested Washington could lift social distancing restrictions a week earlier, on Monday, May 18.