Inslees Implore Washingtonians to Go Solo These COVID-19 Holidays

In a short, folksy address to his constituents, Gov. Jay Inslee and his wife Trudi stressed family traditions with kids and grand kids will need to be put on pause because of COVID-19 for both Thanksgiving AND Christmas this year.

But, the good news is, in 2020, this is the one and only year this will have to happen, so try and think of it as a special occasion. Bottom line, it's just too dangerous to have gatherings of people outside of the household or inside the household with anyone other than IMMEDIATE family this year.

Therapeutics to battle the disease are on the way and the governor said the arrival of a vaccine is "imminent," but right now, we're in an exponential growth phase of the virus, we've doubled our state coronavirus cases in the past two weeks, and, as "act of love" to our families, our communities and ourselves, this year we have to have a hard pass on in-person gatherings, that Thanksgiving and Christmas will have to be done virtually.

That goes for birthday parties and Seahawk gatherings too. Basically, if you want to go to a Thanksgiving gathering that is not with your immediate family, you'd have to start isolating to be safe, TODAY. The governor said the cavalry is on the way, but we need to keep people alive until the cavalry gets here.

The governor warned without decisive action our hospital halls will be lined with gurneys before we know it. He encouraged Washingtonians to continue to lead the way, claiming our state is near the top of the list of states in the nation who have handled the COVID-19 crisis properly.

Mrs. Inslee acknowledged we are fatigued, but what happens next is up to us. Everyone can be a leader. We need to have difficult but necessary conversations about how to logically approach this holiday season with our loved ones and our extended families.