Can we ease restrictions in the COVID-19 battle? A local emergency room doctor on the front lines of the COVID-19 fight put it this way: “We have hit the brakes and our car has stopped right before the edge of the cliff… one wheel was over the edge.”

Speaking at a Snohomish County briefing with reporters via Zoom Friday, Providence Medical Center’s Dr. Matt Beecroft added, “It felt like it was going to turn into a major disaster; that we would run out of hospital beds and ventilators.” That did not happen, added Beecroft, because of the way local communities responded.

Progress in this battle often comes in small steps. One small step with a potential big impact: Homemade cloth protective face masks will soon be available, free, to anyone through local food banks.

Snohomish County announced it will coordinate with food banks to be drive-by pickup sites for the masks, as well as make the food banks drop-off’ sites for people to donate homemade masks.  Dr. Beecroft said that takes the pressure off the supply of medical and surgical masks that hospitals and clinics need.

There are more small signs of cautious progress. Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers said: “In a few more weeks, we may be able to start dialing back restrictions.” He was not specific on details.

Somers says the county will work with national and state experts to incorporate ideas that are working in other places, and added that lifting restrictions will come off in “layers,” not all at once.

“We cannot stop now, we have to hold the line,” Somers warned, adding that residents need to maintain strict social distancing, wear protective gear such as cloth masks, and limit travel for only essential purposes.

County Chief Health Officer Dr. Chris Spitters added that this “is an all-society approach to respond to this pandemic.” He said that if citizens do not follow social distancing guidelines, the county will end up right back where it started.

“This is not a time to celebrate,” Spitters said, “but to humbly reflect on what we have achieved so far.”

The county now has 1,900-plus total cases. But those numbers are slowing day by day, and Spitters says the case numbers now reflect people who were exposed more than a week ago. More than 100 patients are now hospitalized in the county.

According to county data, 40-50 patients are hospitalized at Swedish Edmonds, another 40-50 at Providence Everett and five to 10 patients each at hospitals in Arlington and Monroe.

The federal government is pulling its support of the county’s only drive-through test site, in Everett. Staff had tested 2,000 people there. When asked why the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was withdrawing, Spitters said the FEMA was in Everett to handle the “short-term surge” as the virus erupted in the county. The agency helped test for three weeks, and “their commitment is done,” he added.

Spitters said that it will be up to state and local agencies if they want to keep some form of “drive-through” testing; but did not elaborate. There are indications, he added, that the number of people wanting tests is declining. Those who exhibit symptoms should call their doctor or local clinic, he added.

The bottom line from the briefing came from Somers: “We got ahead of the curve and it appears we are flattening the curve; but we cannot stop now, we must hold the line.”

— By Bob Throndsen