Spokane elected officials are urging residents to obey the rules set out by Governor Jay Inslee and ‘stay at home’ if at all possible.
Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich and others held a press briefing this [Tuesday] morning, in which they presented a unified front in favor of physical distancing strategies to combat the coronavirus.
“We are not going to take efforts that are going to be draconian on this, folks. We’re going to educate you. If we find you in large groups, we’re going to stop and go, ‘Hey, we really need you to comply with these orders.’ The education part is where we’re going to stress our efforts. We need you to comply, though," Knezovich said.
Mayor Nadine Woodward announced that Spokane’s shelters will become 24/7 facilities.
“And as you probably have already heard, we’ve announced this before, that our downtown Spokane library, the first floor, will be a new shelter space. We hope to move in by the first of next week. That will provide, initially, 100 new beds and up to 140 beds," Woodward said. "We are also looking at other sites as well. We were looking at the pavilion in Riverfront Park. That doesn’t look like it’s going to be an option.”
She says local leaders are also looking at turning some of the Fairgrounds into a quarantine site for people with the virus.
Woodward said there are no food shortages for people who don’t have enough to eat at home. She says the Spokane School District has opened about two dozen sites where children can be fed. Meals on Wheels is up and running and the Second Harvest and Salvation Army Food Banks are available to serve people.