Rantz: Lack of leadership by Jay Inslee creates conflicting coronavirus advice

Washington is suffering from a lack of a singular leader and message as we deal with a worsening coronavirus outbreak. Often, the guidance is either conflicting and nonsensical, or it seems rushed, indicating a lack of planning. And that means Governor Jay Inslee is failing.

Rantz: Sen. Patty Murray condemned for ‘cheap’ shot against Trump over coronavirus

As of Monday, there are 21 known coronavirus-related deaths in the state. Twenty of the deaths come from King County, with one from Snohomish County. In all, just 162 confirmed cases, though that is believed to be an underrepresented number.

What’s going on with schools?

Questions about avoiding large gatherings have been met with conflicting answers.

Dr. Jeff Duchin of Public Health–Seattle & King County said residents, particularly those with an underlying health condition, “should consider avoiding crowded settings to the extent possible.” Snohomish County Health district has issued similar guidance, even though all but one of the deaths took place in King County.

But then both King and Snohomish counties say they won’t cancel schools. Don’t all schools have large crowds of people in relatively close quarters?

Though, some schools are choosing to close.

We’ve seen high school closures in Bothell, Renton, Mukilteo, Kirkland and more. And at the three University of Washington campuses? In-class courses have been cancelled, instead pushing to digital learning.

Leaving the decision up to school districts with some basic guidance and useless platitudes (“We think the district is doing what’s best for their kids”) creates uncertainty and confusion. It’s why so many parents are demanding their kid’s school be closed.

From meetings to sporting events

King County is telling all their employees — including the healthy ones — to work from home if they can. They’re also cancelling all in-person meetings to cut down on the community spread of the coronavirus.

In Olympia, State Senator Karen Keiser (D-Des Moines) chastised Amazon for letting employees work from home, if their job could be done, while not considering warehouse workers. Keiser apparently wants all of Amazon to shut down. Yet at the same time, she had her own employees work in her Olympia office.

Yet the Sounders hosted over 33,000 fans (very low attendance for a team that usually averages 40,000) on Saturday, at Century Link. Just days earlier we learned a part time worker at a Seattle Dragons game had a positive coronavirus test.

On Sunday? Governor Jay Inslee told CBS News that he’s strongly considering a mandate to close down large gatherings.

“Every single social contact between humans anywhere in the world today is a potential exposure,” he said on Face the Nation.

A singular message from the top

While ideologues on the Left attack President Donald Trump from not properly leading on coronavirus, right here in Washington we have a failure of leadership from Inslee. Why isn’t he showing up to the effected counties and leading a singular, simple-to-follow message?

I don’t expect that from Trump or Vice President Mike Pence. They have to speak big picture and they obviously can’t visit every district of every state impacted. But what is Inslee’s excuse? Hop in that electric vehicle and drive into King and Snohomish Counties. Head on over to Jefferson and Grant counties. This is your job. And while there, make sure everyone is sending a consistent message.

At this point, all the conflicting information and different reaction is needlessly alarming. More people here die from the flu than the coronavirus. But it’s a new virus and people are scared. Fine.

But if on national TV Inslee chooses to sound the alarms, why can’t he come up with a singular message to match his tone? Should we stay home or not? And if individual districts and counties are making up their own standards, then Inslee should be the calming voice. It’s time to actually lead.

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