Moses Lake Today

Gov. Jay Inslee recently issued a travel advisory for Washington, recommending that residents undergo a 14-day quarantine before traveling out of state and advises residents to stay close to home if possible, according to a news release from the Governor’s Office.

“COVID-19 cases have doubled in Washington over the past two weeks. This puts our state in as dangerous a position today as we were in March,” Inslee said. “Limiting and reducing travel is one way to reduce further spread of the disease. I am happy to partner with California and Oregon in this effort to help protect lives up and down the West Coast.”

Inslee’s advice was echoed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown who also advised travelers leaving or entering their states to self-quarantine to contain the spread of COVID-19.

“California just surpassed a sobering threshold – one million COVID-19 cases – with no signs of the virus slowing down,” said Newsom. “Increased cases are adding pressure on our hospital systems and threatening the lives of seniors, essential workers and vulnerable Californians. Travel increases the risk of spreading COVID-19 and we must all collectively increase our efforts at this time to keep the virus at bay and save lives.”

“COVID-19 does not stop at state lines. As hospitals across the West are stretched to capacity, we must take steps to ensure travelers are not bringing this disease home with them,” said Brown. “If you do not need to travel, you shouldn’t. This will be hard, especially with Thanksgiving around the corner. But the best way to keep your family safe is to stay close to home.”

The states’ travel advisories also recommend that individuals limit interactions with people to those within their immediate household and that essential travel is defined as travel for work and study, critical infrastructure support, economic services and supply chains, health, immediate medical care, and safety and security.

Visitors can find the travel advisory here.