'Take It Outside' Urges Inslee As 4th Wave Mounts

OLYMPIA, WA — Gov. Jay Inslee has a simple message for Washington: "Take it outside."

Transmission rates and case counts are on the rise across the Evergreen State, and over the past several weeks Washington's health leaders have become increasingly convinced they are the start of a new, fourth wave of the pandemic.

During the week ending April 9, Washington say it's case rate increase 4 percent, its hospital admission rate balloon 61 percent, and it's rate of new COVID-19 deaths grow 10 percent, per the latest available federal data.

Previously, the hope had been the vaccine rollout would be enough to stop the nascent fourth wave as it grew, avoiding the need for any more lockdowns or phase rollbacks. However, that hasn't been the case, and three counties are being rolled back into Phase 2.

At a press conference Thursday, the governor did not announce any further pandemic restrictions or regulations, but said he would take action if the situation continued to deteriorate.

"We can not, and we will not wait until that wave breaks," Inslee said.

Before it comes to that though, the governor is urging Washingtonians to take advantage of the warming weather, and do more outdoors.

"This doesn't seem like rocket science, but it's frankly one of the things our Department of Health has thought about in the last few days," Inslee said. "We've said what can we do to break this cycle of increasing COVID?"

Even before it began, scientists had warned the third wave would be the worst yet, not only because each subsequent wave has been larger than the past, but because it began in the fall, just as more people began moving their activities indoors and out of the cold.

But it's spring now, with forecasted highs in the 70s — even reaching into the 80s by Saturday — and the governor says Washingtonians can afford to set their social gatherings, their meetings and their coffee dates outdoors where there is a lower risk of transmission.

"We believe we will succeed if we do this," Inslee said.

To make his point, not only did the governor hold his press conference outdoors, just outside Executive Residence in Olympia, he invited members of the press to join him for his first in-person conference in nearly a year.

"This is a simple, cost-free, extremely healthy way to go about our business," Inslee said.

The directive may seem simple — and the governor himself noted — but if the effort helps cut transmissions even a little, Inslee says that could be the key to bringing Washington just that much closer to ending the pandemic for good.

"This has been the longest year, probably, of most of our lives, and we are just this close to success," Inslee said.

Of course, the vaccine also remains critical in ending the pandemic. As of Thursday, all Washingtonians 16 or older are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Related: Where To Find Vaccine Appointments In Washington