Inslee Announces Three-Week Extension of Business Restrictions, Additional $50M in Aid

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Gov. Jay Inslee announced a three-week extension of the most recent round of COVID-19 restrictions on businesses on Tuesday, Dec. 8, citing the “alarming” trajectory of positive coronavirus tests around the state and a hospital system at 80 percent capacity for intensive care beds.

“We remain concerned about COVID activity and we still do not have a clear picture of the situation following the Thanksgiving weekend,” Inslee said. “… We do know this, while this COVID is at crisis levels, what we do now will literally be a matter of life and death for many of our citizens.”

The continued restrictions, which prohibit indoor dining at restaurants and most indoor social gatherings while limiting capacity at grocery stores and religious services, are accompanied by an additional $50 million in relief funding targeted toward the businesses hit hardest.

That includes restaurants, gyms, bowling alleys and music and event venues, said Lisa Brown, director of the state Department of Commerce.

‘We will prioritize small businesses in every corner of the state, particularly in those most hard hit areas,” Brown said.

She said that in order to get money out to businesses by Dec. 31, businesses should apply by Dec. 11. The state has already received thousands of applications.

Ultimately, the state is hoping the federal government will approve a new coronavirus aid package before the end of the year.

“This is not just a Washington state challenge, it is a national challenge,” Brown said. “We are very hopeful there is action by Congress that will allow us to take further steps for our employees and our small business owners.”

This $50 million is in addition to the $135 million in state aid announced last month, and increases the amount of Working Washington grants available to $100 million, Brown said.

To apply, go to startup.choosewashingtonstate.com/working-washington-round-3/.

As of Dec. 6, 989 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in the state, with 135 on ventilators, according to the state Department of Health. That represents 80 percent of the state’s ICU capacity, and due to the length of the pandemic, hospitals are short on reserve capacity.

As of Tuesday, the state had more than 184,000 total cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, with thousands of new cases being reported each day.

“At the moment, we have to face the reality and the reality is we are suffering a very dire situation with the pandemic,” Inslee said. “The case counts continue to increase. We have seen very steep inclines during the month of November and into December.”



Worst-case models based on current data shows Washington exceeding its hospital capacity by the end of this month, he added.

“As ICU beds fill up, every person with a significant medical need is in trouble, not just those with COVID but anyone who needs an ICU for any reason,” Inslee said.

While the restrictions are intended to slow infections and preserve remaining hospital resources, Inslee acknowledged their effect on businesses, emphasizing the role Congress has in passing a new stimulus and relief package.

“Congress has more tools at its disposal than states do to solve this problem,” he said. “We’re hoping Congress can make a bipartisan agreement before the end of this year but Washington is preparing if they do not. … If Congress does not act, the state will provide relief to those who were on the pandemic unemployment system as of the week of Nov. 21.”

Inslee said there are enough funds available for him to use through executive action to maintain payments through the end of December, without calling a special session of the state Legislature.

“We will not allow people to fall off that cliff in the state of Washington if congress does not act,” he said.

Inslee noted that before the pandemic, Washington was consistently one of the top five states for job growth in the nation.

“We know how tough this time is but we know we are going to recover,” he said. “There is really, really bright light and that’s this vaccine, and we believe our economy can rebound quickly when this becomes widely available.”

State Secretary of Health John Weisman said the state anticipates receiving its first 62,400 doses of a five-year COVID-19 vaccine by Dec. 15 and a total of 219,000 in December. Those doses will be distributed methodically to high-risk healthcare workers and long-term care patients.

“We will be making final allocations later this week and next week, into which places they will go,” Weisman said. “It’s important to remember there are over 300,000 health care workers that fall in this high risk category is our estimate, and that includes not just doctors and nurses but other support staff that are providing care to these individuals.”

Weisman said it will take a few weeks to distribute the doses of the vaccine.

In November, Inslee asked Washingtonians to avoid large family gatherings for Thanksgiving to avoid spreading COVID-19. He renewed that request for the month of December.

“We understand that as we come into the December holiday season, just like Thanksgiving, all of us are going to have an opportunity to save lives while continuing to be responsible and not have large gatherings in our homes and otherwise that pose such a risk,” he said. “It was the right thing to do in November. It will be the right thing to do in December.”