Pacific Northwest faces shutdowns amid rising virus cases

When the coronavirus pandemic hit the Pacific Northwest states of Oregon and Washington, their governors quickly reacted with shutdowns. Now they are about to impose new restrctions again as infections and hospitalizations rise to alarming levels.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown is putting 15 counties that encompass the state’s biggest cities into the state's extreme risk category starting Friday, imposing restrictions that include banning indoor restaurant dining. As Brown issued her order on Tuesday, she said rising COVID-19 hospitalizations threaten to overwhelm doctors.

“If we don’t act now, doctors, nurses, hospitals, and other health care providers in Oregon will be stretched to their limits treating severe cases of COVID-19,” Brown said.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is expected to order new restrictions next week for several counties, likely including the state’s largest, that would force businesses and churches to reduce their indoor gathering capacity from 50% to 25%.

Inslee will decide which counties need to be rolled back to Phase 2 of his reopening plan after an evaluation of public health safety benchmark numbers. The public health director for King County, which includes Seattle, expects it will be included in Inslee’s order.

“We might as well just get prepared for that and not just wait,” Patty Hayes, director of Public Health – Seattle & King County, told the King County Council on Tuesday.

The moves come, ironically, as the supply of vaccines in many places is exceeding demand.

“There are appointments available right now all across the state,” Brown said.

For example, the public health director for northern Oregon’s Umatilla County, which was downgraded Tuesday from the moderate to the high-risk category, told state officials it can send last week’s vaccine...