Public Gatherings of More Than 250 People Banned in Seattle Area

The order, one of the strictest imposed in any U.S. city so far, is an attempt to reduce social interactions to limit further spread of a virus that has already killed 24 people in the state.

Hours later, Seattle public schools announced they would close all their facilities for at least the next two weeks.

“It is clear that our state needs a more vigorous and more comprehensive and more aggressive position if we are to slow the spread of this epidemic,” Inslee said. The governor said the decision was not easy and that the efforts to combat coronavirus were going to be “profoundly disturbing to a lot of the ways that we live our lives.”

Earlier in the week, officials in Santa Clara County, California, also declared a ban on public gatherings, in that case, of 1,000 people or more. In New Rochelle, New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo this week designated a 1-mile radius “containment area” around part of the city.

The prohibition in Washington state applies to King, Snohomish and Pierce counties, an area that includes the cities of Seattle, Tacoma and Everett. It runs through the end of March, which would likely disrupt the opening of the Major League Baseball season. The Seattle Mariners are set to play their first home game in Seattle on March 26.

Inslee said he expected that the ban could be extended.

Inslee stood alongside public health and government leaders in the region who concurred with the need for further action.

“I truly believe that this outbreak is one of the most transformative and consequential events that we’ve had in this region and in this country,” said Jenny Durkan, the Seattle mayor.

Dr. Jeff Duchin, public health officer for Seattle and King County, said that while the effects have already been significant, he believed the region was still in the early phase of a spread that was likely to last months.

“We expect a large-scale outbreak in weeks, and this will be a very difficult time,” Duchin said.

He said the containment efforts were intended to slow, but not halt, the number of people who get infected and reduce effects on both the community and the health care system.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .