Washington governor says ‘mandatory measures’ may be needed to fight coronavirus

“Mandatory measures” to reduce public activities may be required to fight the spread of coronavirus, Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington said.

“So far, the public is responding very well by making sure that they listen to public health requests,” Inslee said in an interview with Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation” Sunday on CBS.

“People are now staying home when they’re sick,” Inslee said, according to a transcript of the interview provided by CBS. “They have telecommuted and teleworked very, very effectively. And so that’s working. But we may have to go to the next step.”

Questioned by Brennan, Inslee said that may not involve quarantines or closing down cities, but instead reducing the number of public activities where people could inadvertently spread the virus.

“We are looking at extending what are voluntary decisions right now,” Inslee said. “And we’ve asked a whole host of communities to consider whether you really need to have your events right now, and they are being canceled. (Emerald City) Comic Con has been postponed. We have a number of school closures.”

“We are thinking about stronger measures right now,” Inslee said.

More than 111,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide with nearly 3,900 deaths as of March 9, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 560 confirmed cases with 22 deaths — 19 in Washington state.

On “Face the Nation,” Inslee, a Democrat, rejected criticism by President Donald Trump of his state’s initial handling of the coronavirus outbreaks near Seattle.

“I really don’t care too much what Donald Trump thinks of me,” Inslee said. “And we just kind of ignore that. It’s background noise because we really need to work together, Republicans and Democrats. This is a national crisis.”

Inslee said he had worked well with Vice President Mike Pence, who visited Washington on Thursday, and federal agency heads on the coronavirus outbreaks.

“So, look, we’re focusing on people’s health, not on political gamesmanship right now. And that’s what we need to do,” Inslee said.

This story was originally published March 8, 2020 at 10:31 AM with the headline "Washington governor says ‘mandatory measures’ may be needed to fight coronavirus."