Gov. Inslee, Mayor Durkan honored among ‘heroes of the pandemic’

Fortune honored a handful of leaders across the globe as “heroes of the pandemic” this week, including Washington’s own Gov. Jay Inslee and Mayor Jenny Durkan.

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Inslee was honored as part of a trio of U.S. governors, alongside Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer and Ohio’s Mike DeWine.

“Seeing U.S. governors rise to the moment has been a bright light in a bleak time,” Fortune noted.

Inslee garnered praise for leading Washington “to invent the playbook for fighting the disease on U.S. soil when his state was the first hit.”

Despite frequently sparring with President Trump in the media, the Washington governor has still received top marks from the rest of the country in his response to the coronavirus. One poll of 3,000 Americans saw Inslee receive a 74% approval rating for the role he’s played in quelling the outbreak.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan found herself on Fortune’s list as well, included alongside Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and San Francisco Mayor London Breed.

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“In Seattle, the earliest U.S. hotspot, Jenny Durkan established the country’s first drive-up testing site for first responders, created a $5 million grocery voucher program, and shared her city’s hard-won lessons with her fellow mayors,” Fortune detailed.

Also earning a spot on the list was former Washington Governor Christine Gregoire, garnering accolades for bringing “hard-hit Seattle’s business community together early in the city’s outbreak” in her role as Challenge Seattle’s CEO.

“She insisted on a science-based response, and the group, which includes some of the world’s most competitive corporate rivals, followed her lead — acting early, aggressively, and in unison — to help slow the virus’s spread,” Fortune described.

Rounding out Washington’s entries on Fortune’s list of pandemic heroes was Microsoft founder Bill Gates, for his role in funding the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which has “ushered eight COVID-19 vaccine candidates into development.”

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