Governor says cancel Thanksgiving and Christmas

This week Governor Inslee called for everyone to cancel family gatherings for Thanksgiving and Christmas. He claims it is just too dangerous. He justifies this on the basis of an increasing number of cases. 

He also called for a ban on out of state travel. Here is the press release from Governor Inslee’s office on Friday:

 

Inslee issues travel advisory for Washington

Gov. Jay Inslee issued a travel advisory for Washington, recommending a 14-day quarantine for interstate and international travel and asks residents to stay close to home. Inslee joined California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown in urging visitors entering their states or returning home from travel outside these states to self-quarantine to slow the spread of the virus. 

“COVID-19 cases have doubled in Washington over the past two weeks. This puts our state in as dangerous a position today as we were in March,” Inslee said. “Limiting and reducing travel is one way to reduce further spread of the disease. I am happy to partner with California and Oregon in this effort to help protect lives up and down the West Coast.”

“California just surpassed a sobering threshold – one million COVID-19 cases – with no signs of the virus slowing down,” said Newsom. “Increased cases are adding pressure on our hospital systems and threatening the lives of seniors, essential workers and vulnerable Californians. Travel increases the risk of spreading COVID-19 and we must all collectively increase our efforts at this time to keep the virus at bay and save lives.”

“COVID-19 does not stop at state lines. As hospitals across the West are stretched to capacity, we must take steps to ensure travelers are not bringing this disease home with them,” said Brown. “If you do not need to travel, you shouldn’t. This will be hard, especially with Thanksgiving around the corner. But the best way to keep your family safe is to stay close to home.”

In addition to urging individuals arriving from other states or countries to self-quarantine for 14 days after arrival, the states’ travel advisories recommend individuals limit their interactions to their immediate household. The advisories define essential travel as travel for work and study, critical infrastructure support, economic services and supply chains, health, immediate medical care, and safety and security.

It is difficult to cover the issues of the COVID “Pandemic” without being accused of pushing fake news or expressing an opinion not based on scientific facts. It is not unlike trying to have a conversation about race. 

The problem is that the issues have become so politically and socially sensitive that any disagreement about the policies immediately gets you tagged as insensitive. 

That being said, it is time we started having a serious discussion about the issue of COVID-19 policy. This is a serious disease. It can have deadly consequences. The problem is the policies do not appear to be justified in the face of real impact of the disease or our experience to date. I wrote about this several months back and am not going to repeat it here. I am, however posting a couple articles this week that take issue with current policy. 

It was not unreasonable that early in the year when little was known about this disease or how to treat it that restrictions were put in place to limit exposure. We now know a lot more. We can and have measured the risks. The danger is not as significant as once thought, and there is apparent hope that a vaccine may soon be available. 

It is time to ask ourselves if the damage being done to our economy and the socialization and education of our children is worth it.