Inslee issues 'stay home' order for state

Stay home unless absolutely necessary or your job is essential, Gov. Jay Inslee told Washington residents Monday night.

Inslee signed an emergency order he calls “Stay home, stay healthy” that increases previous steps the state has taken to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is similar to orders issued in California, some other states and large metropolitan areas.

“This is a human tragedy on a scale we can’t yet predict,” Inslee said. “The fastest way to get back to normal is to hit this hard.”

The two-week order includes an immediate ban on gatherings and requires non-essential businesses to close by Wednesday evening.

“We expect everyone in our state to comply with this order voluntarily,” he said. If that doesn’t happen, the state could take enforcement actions against those who are so “socially irresponsible” they put others at risk, he added.

The order, which could be extended, requires every state resident to stay home unless they are involved in an essential activity. That would include shopping for groceries, going to a doctor’s appointment or going to work at an essential business.

Going outside for a walk, a bike ride or to garden is OK, Inslee said, as long as people keep a safe “social distance” of 6 feet between each person.

“While we minimize our physical connections it is essential we maximize our emotional connections,” he said.

Non-essential businesses will close within 48 hours.

The list of essential business types is long, nearly 14 pages with categories that include medical facilities, pharmacies and energy and food production as well as grocery stores, gas stations, and other things necessary for continued operations. Inslee asked that people not overstock, saying that if everyone sticks to normal buying habits stores will have enough for everyone.

Earlier Monday, the state’s largest private employer, The Boeing Co., announced it will be shutting down its assembly lines in the Northwest to protect its workers. Inslee praised the company’s decision to have an orderly shutdown and continue to pay workers.

“Now is a time for bold actions like these, and we will continue to look at what can be done statewide,” he said.

Effective immediately, the order bans all gatherings of any size for social, spiritual and recreational purposes, including weddings and funerals.

Inslee banned gatherings of 250 or more people on March 13 and later dropped that to 50 or more people. He also ordered certain businesses, including bars and sit-down service in restaurants, to close March 16, and public and private schools to close starting March 17. At the time he urged people to stay at home except for trips to the store, and urged businesses to allow employees to work from home as much as possible.

As governors of California and other states issued stricter orders for making people stay home, Inslee said health experts in Washington would monitor the state’s data to see if more restrictions were necessary. Monday, with the state Department of Health reporting 110 deaths and more than 2,220 patients testing positive for the virus, he decided the state had reached that tipping point.

This story is developing and will be updated.