On Saturday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency for the state following the first death from novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). Since then, the number of confirmed cases in Washington state has risen to 27 and there have been 9 deaths. There have also been cases reported in California and Oregon.
According to The Hill, the declaration by Inslee directs state agencies to use all resources necessary to prepare for and respond to an outbreak and allows the use of the Washington National Guard if necessary.
Declaring a state of emergency speeds up the process of allocating resources to affected communities. It places no restrictions on the activities of civilians unless otherwise stated. In this case, it allowed King County to purchase a motel to isolate patients during treatment and recovery.
At this point, Inslee says the priority is to slow the spread of COVID-19 and prepare for the possibility of a world-wide pandemic. A pandemic is the spread of a disease world-wide as opposed to an outbreak (epidemic). While there has been a sudden increase in the number of reported cases of COVID-19, it does not yet meet the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for a pandemic.
