First hit, first opened? Seattle eyes reopening economy
Seattle was the country’s first coronavirus hot spot, and soon it could be one of the first big cities to reopen its economy. When and how that happens will depend largely on the region’s ability to get adequate testing and protect its front-line health care workers, Mayor Jenny Durkan said.
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” she said. “We’re not even really halfway through, even though we’ve hit the peak.”
Just five weeks ago, COVID-19, the disease associated with the coronavirus, devastated a nursing home in an idyllic suburb east of Seattle. At least 37 people connected to Life Care Center of Kirkland died from coronavirus-related illness, according to King County public health officials.
It signaled the beginning of a national crisis that has infected more than 600,000 people and claimed over 32,000 lives, according to NBC News counts.
Washington has recorded just a small fraction of those numbers
