Assistant Sec. of Health: Data supports reopening WA schools and businesses
Aug 31, 2020, 2:48 PM | Updated: 3:15 pm
Adm. Brett Giroir, director of the U.S. coronavirus diagnostic testing, adjusts his face mask as he testifies at a House Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis hearing on July 31, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)
(Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)
We’re seeing some good COVID data out of Washington state as the debate around schools reopening continues. Does current data in Washington suggest the governor should be moving to reopen the economy and schools? Admiral Brett Giroir, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health, joined the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH to discuss why this is the case.
“The data in Washington would suggest that you’re in a good position to really be moving forward again,” Giroir said. “We don’t get involved heavily in local events, but in our vernacular, you’re a green state. Your cases are low, you have positivity well below 5%. You may have local communities where things are different or special circumstances, but in general — don’t throw caution to the wind — you’re in a good position to get back open.”
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Considering this, how long should Washington state wait to reopen? Even though numbers may be good at the moment, health officials have previously warned that could change.
“No matter what, you still want to do things in a reasonable fashion. You don’t want to take the very, very high risk people and put them out into a crowded bar. That just doesn’t make sense. But we provide — and we do this to the governor — we provide recommendations every week, county by county, so that the governors can understand what at least we recommend from Washington, D.C.,” Giroir said.
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“And if you’re in a green state and in a green county, there really is no reason that you shouldn’t be safely and sensibly reopening schools, reopening businesses, and starting to get yourself back to relatively normal,” he added. “When I say relatively normal, we’re still going to be wearing masks, we’re probably not going to have super crowded bars because we know that’s the place for spread … There’s still a need to wash your hands. But you should really be getting back into the business of business and schools and everything else.”
Listen to the Jason Rantz Show weekday afternoons from 3 – 6 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (or HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here.
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