Washington Governor Jay Inslee Remarks on COVID-19 & Holiday Safety Transcript November 12

Jay Inslee: (00:00) Good evening, my fellow Washingtonians. And thank you for joining and Trudy and me tonight. We'd like to talk tonight about what is being called the third wave of COVID-19 and how we can protect our families. As we head into the holidays that we cherish so much, simply put, we have to rethink these holidays so that we may be thankful when we don't lose more lives to COVID. Trudy Inslee: (00:27) Like many of you, we Inslee's love our Thanksgiving celebrations. For decades we've started the day off with a touch football game, followed with a potluck with family and friends. And then we finish it off with pie and turkey sandwiches. Jay Inslee: (00:40) And these are treasured parts of our family traditions, including of course our grandkids with olives on their fingers. But this year we know we're going to have to pause all that. This year, our family will celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, but we'll do it virtually. But here's some good news. We're only going to have to do this once. This is a unique Thanksgiving and holiday season. We're thankful that more therapeutics are on the way as is the imminent arrival of a vaccine. And so there is a lot more at our disposal to fight this virus then there was when the pandemic began. We are optimistic that Thanksgiving 2021 will be the best ever. But this year, it's just too dangerous to gather together indoors where the virus can spread so easily. So this year, will you join us in changing your Thanksgiving and December holiday plans, please know that you are doing it as an act of love for the people around you and your entire community. Jay Inslee: (01:48) We love each other too much to put each other's health at risk. And unfortunately anyone can get COVID, even if they think they're doing the right thing. So this year, please don't gather with people outside of your household. It's just too dangerous, because here's the hard facts. Our weekly average of new COVID cases has doubled just in the past two weeks. We are in as dangerous a position today as we were in March. We're in a period of what's called exponential growth and every single day matters. We cannot wait until our hospital's halls are lined with gurneys waiting for rooms before we take decisive action. Jay Inslee: (02:38) Now we have done some good work already in our state. Washingtonians have masked up and business owners have found innovative ways to adapt to health measures, putting our state in a better position than the vast majority of other states for now. In the next few days will be announcing some further measures to prevent this from spreading. These decisions will affect what we do outside of the home, but what's most urgent right now tonight is what we do in our own dwellings. Tonight, we have a simple request from our family to yours. Please do not have Thanksgiving gatherings, unless you're positive that everyone there has quarantined successfully for 14 days, which would start today. Trudy Inslee: (03:29) Otherwise every social gathering, is just one more brick in a wall of infection. It's not just Thanksgiving, but it's also your birthday parties, your Seahawks celebrations. It doesn't matter what you're doing. These gatherings in your homes are dangerous right now. Jay Inslee: (03:45) The spiking COVID activity comes at the end of a long and tumultuous year. This is a year where more than 240,000 table chairs will be empty in homes across the United States because of the lives taken by COVID-19. And as you rethink holiday plans with your family, we hope you keep those families in your hearts. Trudy Inslee: (04:12) We're all fatigued and it's okay to not feel okay right now. But what happens next in our state depends on what happens in our families and in our homes. That's why we implore you rethink spending time with people outside of your household on Thanksgiving and the December holidays. Jay Inslee: (04:34) Everybody can be a leader here and we need you to be a leader tonight. It's time to have difficult but necessary conversations with your family about the holidays. We know phone calls and video chats or talking to each other through windows or plexiglass, they're not a replacement for in-person connections. We all know that. But they are viable for now because every gathering will risk spreading COVID-19 until the time comes when we have finally wrestled this virus to the ground, which we will accomplish together. Jay Inslee: (05:10) This is a temporary situation. We will get back to normal. The cavalry is on the way, but we need to keep people alive until it gets here. Every idea until then is on the table, except for the idea of failing to contain this virus. That is not an option. The price of failure is far greater than the price of doing the things we know work against this virus when we stick to them. Lastly, we'd like to say, thank you. Trudy Inslee: (05:43) Thank you to the frontline and essential workers, from our healthcare system to our educators, from our farms to our grocery stores. From our retail to our childcare workers, who have all faced considerable risks throughout this pandemic. Jay Inslee: (05:56) And thank you to our seniors who are the most vulnerable to this virus and who have, have been the most isolated during this time. And thank you to the 7.6 million Washingtonians who have each other's backs every day and who we are eternally grateful to call partners in this fight. There is plenty to be thankful for this year, knowing that we have the tools and the people to defeat this. And we appreciate all of you. We are not helpless in this fight, so let's go wage it. Happy Thanksgiving from us to you. Stay healthy, Washington. Trudy Inslee: (06:37) Thanks everyone. Jay Inslee: (06:38) Thank you.