by WA State Governor | Press Release
Gov. Jay Inslee today announced a new COVID-19 risk assessment dashboard to aid the state in gauging when and how to best lift restrictions around ‘Stay Home, Stay Healthy” in Washington.
Wednesday marked 100 days since the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Washington state. The governor mentioned that in the coming weeks, the state will slowly start “turning the dial” on several physical distancing restrictions in accordance with changing epidemiological and public health data.
“It is important to share the information and data that informs our decisions,” Inslee said. “As each decision we make informs choices that impact the health and safety of Washingtonians, we want to show that there are multiple indicators we rely on for how we can remain healthy and open our businesses.”
The dashboard features five “dials” measuring different data points in the state. The public will be able to view the data guiding the state’s ongoing discussions on recovery planning by visiting the state Department of Health website or coronavirus.wa.gov.
The governor’s full data presentation can be found here.
Disease Activity
This dial represents a snapshot of the data the state considers when making decisions related to the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order and other COVID-19 related orders. Low and falling disease burden in the state is depicted in the dial, and is measured by:
- COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in Washington
- Rates of COVID-19 spread throughout Washington (aka R0 or “R naught”)
- Modeling data from IDM, IHME and Youyang Gu
- Physical distancing adherence trends in Washington state
Ultimately, guidance from the state and the lifting of distancing restrictions is based on the ability to have appropriate health and safety protocols in place.
Health Care System Readiness
The second dial measures health care system readiness, a crucial component in the state’s efforts to “reopen.”
This readiness is measured by:
- Hospital beds
- ICU capacity
- Ventilator numbers
- State PPE procurement
“Preparedness in our health care system has made great strides, which is one reason why we returned 400 ventilators to the national stockpile and were able to recommend the redeployment of the Army field hospital at CenturyLink Field,” Inslee said.
Testing Capacity and Availability
The third dial measures the state’s testing capacity and availability of tests for everyone who needs one.
“Recovery begins with a massive testing and contact-tracing effort,” Inslee said. “The federal government has promised more testing supplies, and we hope to see it fulfilled, but we still need more.”
In this dial, the ability for everyone with COVID-19 symptoms and those with high risk exposures to be tested immediately is measured by:
- Number of tests performed per day
- Testing capacity, including supply chain and speed
Case and Contact Investigations
The fourth dial measures the state’s ability to conduct case and contact investigations and quickly act to isolate and quarantine those affected.
The ability to rapidly isolate those with COVID-19 and identify/quarantine their contacts is measured by:
- Number of investigators trained and working
- Availability of isolation and quarantine facilities in active jurisdictions
- Percent of cases investigated within 24 hours of receipt of positive test reports
- Percent of contacts reached within 48 hours of receipt of report
Risk to Vulnerable Populations
The fifth dial measures the risk COVID-19 poses to Washington’s most vulnerable populations.
This is measured by:
- Number of outbreaks in long term care facilities per week
- Demographic and equity data
“There are no pharmaceutical interventions for this virus,” Inslee said. “All of our progress can be unraveled if we do not have appropriate precautions in place to protect our loved ones.”
View the governor’s full data presentation here.
Inslee also said that more details on the phased-in approach for Washington state’s “re-opening” in different sectors of the economy would be released Friday.
Author: Mario Lotmore
