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FRONT PAGE COMMENTARY
By, Peter Ripley
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Read the following speech by Inslee, and ask yourself does this sound like a governor who,
seeks to reopen the state? Or someone seeking more power?
Inslee announces Washington’s COVID-19 recovery plan.
From the governor's medium page, posted 4/ 21/ 20
Gov. Jay Inslee spoke directly to Washingtonians Tuesday evening to lay out his vision for the eventual safe return to public life amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Inslee said it is unlikely many restrictions under the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order will be modified before May 4. Rather, this plan is intended to be a framework for the loosening of restrictions contingent on a steady decrease of the spread of COVID-19.
“It will look more like the turning of the dial than the flip of a switch,” Inslee said in the address. “We’re going to take steps and then monitor to see whether they work or if we must continue to adapt.”
Depending on health projections for the spread of the virus, some distancing restrictions may be in place for weeks or months to come.
“In the coming days, we will receive additional health modeling projecting the course of this virus,” Inslee said. “We hope it will give us cause to begin lifting certain restrictions.”
The return to public life will occur in measured steps. It will be guided by science and informed by our public health needs, our ability to mitigate impacts, and the response of Washington communities.
The governor’s plan has three overriding goals:
Protect the health and safety of Washingtonians
The recovery plan begins with widely available testing for individuals who may have contracted COVID-19, tracing for those who have come into close contact with COVID-19 positive individuals, and isolation or quarantine for individuals who could transmit the virus.
However, a variety of barriers to accessing the necessary supplies have prevented Washington from processing more than 4,000 tests a day. For the contact-tracing plan to work, the state needs to be processing between 20,000 and 30,000 tests a day. Earlier Tuesday, the governor sent a letter to the vice president asking the White House to create a national testing system.
Facilitate a safe start and transition to economic recovery
Economic recovery depends on a healthy workforce. When aspects of the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order are lifted, the state will provide guidelines so businesses can operate safely. Even after the order is lifted, workplaces will continue to look and operate differently until a COVID-19 vaccine is available. Continued physical distancing, teleworking and other measures will continue to be necessary to keep workers and customers safe.
Support all people and communities
The COVID-19 outbreak has affected every Washingtonian in different ways. Many in the state will need some kind of assistance to recover. A safe return to public life will require increased social and emotional supports, food and housing security, educational and child care support, internet infrastructure and equitable access to services.
“We need to reckon with the reality that disparities in our communities mean not every family can recovery as quickly as others. Disparities in access have already been exposed in ways not seen in modern times,” Inslee said.
The plan also emphasizes the necessity that community leaders from across the state to work together to provide guidance for a safe and sustainable recovery for all Washingtonians. The governor will appoint three leadership groups to advise on public health, economic recovery and social supports.
“We are looking forward to making advances against this virus,” Inslee said. “Only science, data and informed reasoning can lift us out of this crisis.”
Editorial note:
Some County Sheriff's saying the lock downs are unconstitutional and won't enforce Inslee's stay at home orders. The statement of Inslee is one who wants to maintain control of the people.
Take this following story from the Seattle times titled: Snohomish County sheriff says he won’t enforce Washington state’s stay-home order.
Some quotes from the article:
" “I believe that preventing business owners to operate their businesses and provide for their families intrudes on our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” he wrote, paraphrasing the Declaration of Independence. “As your elected Sheriff I will always put your constitutional rights above politics or popular opinion.”
Fortney argued that the stay-home order, which aims to slow the spread of the coronavirus by barring people from gathering, violates Washingtonians’ First Amendment rights to religious exercise and peaceable assembly." ---Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney.
" After watching Inslee’s address, the sheriff wrote that he “wondered if he even had a plan.” He said he’d wanted to defy the order two weeks ago but “decided to wait out of respect for the Governor and my own misguided hope that each day he did a press conference he would say something with some specificity on getting Washington back to work. After what I witnessed tonight I can no longer stay silent as I’m not even sure he knows what he is doing or knows what struggles Washingtonian’s (sic) face right now.”---Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney.
Related stories:
Inslee: Virus recovery will be slow, restrictions to remain---Penisula Daily News (AP)
OLYMPIA — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Tuesday evening the state will not be able to lift many of the stay-at-home restrictions implemented to fight the coronavirus by May 4 — the date through which the current directive is currently in place — but he hopes health modeling in the coming days will allow resumption of some activities.
Seattle PI: Inslee: Limited reopening to come with long-term impacts of coronavirus in Washington
But the governor cautioned that many restrictions will last beyond the current May 4 expiration day, and that impacts of the novel coronavirus will remain part of life in the Evergreen State for a long time to come. "It is going to affect our daily lives for months," Inslee added.
Editorial note: Sounds like Inslee will keep the Covoid -19 as an excuse to keep his power going, not really in a hurry to reopen the State, and grant our liberties in full, in short making Washington State a Social State!
The Everett Herald: Governor: Many COVID-19 restrictions to linger after May 4
Eastern WA county votes to defy Inslee’s order, reopen all businesses---The Olympian
The unanimous decision Tuesday by the three county commissioners defies Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s stay-at-home order, which is in effect until May 4.
"As far as I’m concerned the county is open, and I’d encourage people within the law and within the parameters of their own safety — we’re adults, we can make decisions — to behave accordingly. That’s what I’m doing,” said Commissioner Brad Peck.
Meanwhile...Gubernatorial candidate Joshua Freed releases “Getting Washington Back to Work” economic recovery plan.---From the Washington State News Wire, dated April 9th, 2020
Republican Gubernatorial candidate Joshua Freed has released a five point economic recovery plan aimed at getting Washington residents who have been laid off or furloughed due to the COVID-19 pandemic back to work.
Finding a balance between the medical and economic issues tugging at us right now is paramount to the future of this state, which is why I have outlined a five-point plan that I will be fighting for on the campaign trail. I believe this is a great first step to getting Washintonians back to work,” said Feed.
Editorial note I agree with the following article from the Federalist titled: Our Goal Must Be A Total Return To Normal
Americans must reject a dehumanizing "new normal" in the wake of the Chinese Virus.
Quote: " If understandable fear is what drove Americans into their homes and succeeded in flattening the curve of the virus in our country, then it is courage that is needed to see our way back to the lives we left behind. The ancient rites bequeathed to us and which we bequeath to our children is a chain that must not be broken. Society cannot long survive social distancing."
NOTE: Inslee might have reopen some construction work, as long as the work crews practice social distancing, but the atmosphere of "Big Brother" is still going...
Ref:
Inslee: Construction projects can resume, with distancing
Senator Murray Secures Hundreds of Billions for Small Businesses, Expanded Testing, Health Care Providers in Supplemental Coronavirus Relief Package.
Press release issued 4/ 21/ 20(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, issued the following statement in support of legislation that passed the Senate today to provide desperately needed relief to small business owners and workers, as well as make critical emergency investments in our nation’s hospitals and new investments to rapidly ramp-up the nation’s testing capacity to address the current COVID-19 pandemic.
“For months I’ve been pushing to make sure the federal response to this COVID-19 pandemic prioritizes the frontline responders, workers, families, small businesses and communities who are sacrificing to help save lives and stem the tide of this crisis, and I’ve made clear that Congress must stay ready to do whatever is necessary—and quickly—to get on top of this virus and see our nation through this uncertain time.
"So I’m glad Congress was able to come together to inject much-needed additional funding into the Paycheck Protection Program and other small business relief programs established by the CARES Act, including new set-asides to make sure federal assistance is getting to the small businesses on Main Street that need it the most. Democrats were also able make sure the deal also includes significant additional emergency investments in our health care system, as well as provisions and funding outlined in my new testing plan that will increase the nation’s testing capacity and contact tracing capabilities—which according to public health experts is absolutely critical to safely re-opening our country.
"These are important steps that will help ensure struggling small businesses and hard-hit communities are getting the federal support and assistance they need to survive this global health emergency, but this is no time to lose focus or slow down. I’ve heard repeatedly from people and businesses across Washington state who are still struggling, and there is much, much more work that Congress will have to do to continue addressing this pandemic and giving our communities on the frontlines the resources they need to get on the other side of this. I’m going to keep fighting with everything I have to make sure the federal government is doing everything in its power to help Washingtonians and people across our nation weather this storm.”
Senator Murray and Senate Democrats called Republicans back to the negotiating table after Senate Republicans tried to ram through a partisan bill that ignored the dire need for drastically increased testing and tracing capabilities as well as essential funding for health care providers on the front lines of this crisis. Highlights of several federal investments and other priorities Senator Murray secured in the funding package include:
· Small Business Relief: $381 Billion
o Paycheck Protection Program (PPP): $321 billion to replenish the PPP, which distributes forgivable loans to small businesses to pay their employees during the COVID-19 crisis.
§ Smaller Institutions: An additional $60 billion in PPP funding specifically for small lenders and community-based financial institutions, to serve the needs of underserved small businesses and nonprofits—especially rural, minority, and women-owned businesses.
o Additional Relief Programs: $50 billion for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, and $10 billion for the Emergency Economic Injury Grant (EEIG) program to provide economic relief to small-businesses struggling during this crisis.
o Small Business Administration (SBA): $2.1 billion to improve SBA administration and facilitate relief distribution.
o Agriculture: Clarification that agricultural enterprises are eligible for PPP and EIDL loans.
· Testing: $25 Billion
o States: $11 billion to be distributed to states for testing, surveillance, and contract tracing efforts.
o Federal: $14 billion for federal agencies to support a broad range of testing-related activities, including research, development, and deployment of tests.
o Planning: Requirement that the Trump Administration formulate a plan to increase testing nationwide and address disparities in testing.
· Health Care: $75 Billion
o Providers: $75 billion for health care providers, including hospitals, to be distributed through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund (“PHSSEF”).
The package comes after Senator Murray released a roadmap last week to dramatically expand testing capacity in Washington state and nationwide, which will be necessary in order to eventually reopen the country. Additionally, Senator Murray continues to hear from hospitals, health care providers, and small business owners from across Washington state about their extreme need for additional federal support in order to continue providing care for Washingtonians and keep their businesses afloat.
WORLD NEWS HEADLINES:
Intensifying shelling and COVID-19 pandemic creates ‘perfect storm’ in Libya.
In Libya, ongoing heavy fighting has raised concerns yet further, about the likely devastating impact of the new coronavirus on people there, particularly those repeatedly forced to flee violence.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/04/1062432
Human rights ‘uplift everyone’; must guide COVID-19 recovery response, says UN chief.
The coronavirus pandemic is not only a critical public health danger, it is also a human, economic and social emergency that is “fast becoming a human rights crisis”, the UN chief said on Thursday, releasing a new policy.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/04/1062442
Economic impact of coronavirus threatens hard-won progress across Africa’s Great Lakes region.
Sweeping preventative measures seem to be curbing the spread of COVID-19 in the Great Lakes region of Africa, but the economic impact of the global pandemic threatens hard-won gains made along the long road back to peace and stability, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the region said on Wednesday.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/04/1062422
Fall in COVID-linked carbon emissions won’t halt climate change - UN weather agency chief.
An expected drop in greenhouse gas emissions linked to the global economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is only “short-term good news”, the head of the UN weather agency said on Wednesday.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/04/1062332
Still ‘a long way to go’ in coronavirus battle, WHO chief warns
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned against complacency as countries continue to confront COVID-19 and citizens grow weary of stay-at-home measures aimed at preventing the spread of the disease.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/04/1062372
UN rights chief rejects killings acknowledged by Cameroon, and Iran’s execution of child offenders.
The UN’s human rights chief has been weighing in on recent killings committed by State authorities, or by rogue members of State military forces, emphasizing that all Governments must strictly abide by international law and hold those who serve, accountable for any violations.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/04/1062402
COVID-19: 5G broadband conspiracy ‘a hoax with no technical basis’, UN telecoms agency.
The latest generation of fast broadband, commonly known as 5G, is in no way responsible for the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) – the UN’s agency for information and communication technologies – confirmed on Wednesday.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/04/1062362
Another of the main stream media taking things out of context:
News story from the Seattle Times
