Celebrate the reopening of the state, COVID-19 wanes

The Colombian

Washington officially reopened on Wednesday. After about 15 months of frequently changing restrictions on business and personal interactions, Independence Day came a few days earlier for residents of the state.

The gist of it all? The restrictions on indoor and outdoor gatherings will be lifted. Restaurants, retail stores, churches, and other places where people gather can go from 50 percent to maximum capacity. And basically, life seems to have some sense of normalcy before the pandemic.

Of course, not everything will be normal. The COVID-19 pandemic is still with us, and the state recently recorded between 400 and 700 infections per week. Additionally, nearly 6,000 deaths in Washington have been attributed to the coronavirus since the outbreak began in March 2020, and a reopened economy cannot make up for that loss.

As a reminder, companies retain the option of defining their own guidelines for protecting the health of customers and employees. If a worker asks you to put on a mask, don’t argue; it is not a violation of your rights and you should either comply or leave.

As the virus continues, vaccines have greatly reduced its spread, making Wednesday a turning point in our long battle against the disease. As Governor Jay Inslee said on a visit to Vancouver last month, “We all knew we would open on June 30th. We are very close, we are currently on the second yard line. “

Meanwhile, Oregon lifted restrictions on Wednesday, citing the number of people vaccinated in the state. Governor Kate Brown said on June 25, “With this achievement, we can move Oregon forward and enter the next chapter in this pandemic. We are ready.”

Likewise the residents of both states. The pandemic has resulted in unprecedented restrictions on activity and changed our daily lives. It has also created disturbing discord while highlighting philosophical differences that quickly became political.

The good news is that a rigorous response to the virus prevented the initial concern – that the health system could be overrun, as has been the case in several other countries. Washington was the first state to identify a coronavirus case and death, and Inslee acted quickly by closing shops and schools.

As The Columbian editorially wrote at the time, “The riddle is that there is no telling whether Inslee made a wise choice. The infection will likely spread for months; when it eventually slows down, there will be no way of assessing whether this spread could have been more effectively limited. But failure could be obvious if the virus spreads unabated. “

This spread has been going on for well over a year, but it hasn’t spread. And there is still no way of telling what the optimal response was. The debate continues, as does the discussion of a governor’s power to unilaterally issue and re-issue emergency orders. The legislature should work next year to strengthen the control mechanisms in the state government.

But for now, we can celebrate a milestone in the coronavirus saga while urging everyone to get vaccinated against the disease.

As of Monday, 68.2 percent of Washington residents aged 16 and over had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. in Clark County the rate is 59.8 percent. In particular, state officials say about 98 percent of people recently hospitalized with coronavirus were unvaccinated – evidence of vaccines’ effectiveness.

Yes, there is still work to be done to completely defeat the virus. But steady progress means Washington will be open from Wednesday.

The Columbian is a family-owned newspaper based in Vancouver, Washington.