Gov. Jay Inslee and First Lady Trudi Inslee spoke in a statewide address Nov. 12, urging Washingtonians to consider changing Thanksgiving plans due to surging COVID-19 cases. CREDIT: TVW

Gov. Jay Inslee And First Lady Trudi Urge A Change To Thanksgiving Plans As COVID Cases Climb

By Scott Leadingham November 12, 2020

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QUICK LINKS:

–Washington COVID-19 Statistics Dashboard

–Washington Dept. of Health Coronavirus Page

–Washington Coronavirus Response Information

–Status of Washington Phased Reopening By County

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and first lady Trudi Inslee have a message: This year Thanksgiving will be different.

They spoke from their home Thursday evening to urge Washington residents to alter their Thanksgiving plans and take greater caution in the coming months. Health officials in the state and across the country have been sounding the alarm recently about rising COVID-19 case rates.

(Watch the full address below.)

“This year, please don’t gather with people outside your household,” the governor implored. “It’s just too dangerous.”

He went on to say the state is in just as “dangerous a position today as we were in March,” saying the state was in a period of “exponential growth” of coronavirus cases.

ALSO SEE: Coronavirus News, Updates, Resources From NWPB

While the governor, who was recently reelected to a third term, didn’t unveil any new restrictions or impose any additional closures, he said that something along those lines could be coming next week.

“Please do not have Thanksgiving gatherings unless you’re positive that everyone there has quarantined successfully for 14 days, which would start today,” the governor said.

He noted that while therapeutic treatments are becoming more widely available, and a vaccine is on the way, the surest way to keep the pandemic in check is to continue social distancing and mask usage in public.

“We’re all fatigued. And it’s OK to not feel OK right now,” Trudi Inslee said. “But what happens next in our state depends on what happens in our families and in our homes.”

As of Thursday, the state had recorded more than 123,300 coronavirus cases and at least 2,507 deaths since January.

“This is a temporary situation. We will get back to normal. The cavalry is on the way,” the governor said. “But we need to keep people alive until it gets here.”