Blitz
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- Mar 20, 2019
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A temporary field hospital built in the Events Center connected to CenturyLink Field will be returned to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for deployment in another state facing a more dire need.
According to the Associated Press, Washington Governor Jay Inslee said the decision was made in consultation with local, state and federal officials as distancing protocols have managed to keep state hospitals from being completely overwhelmed due to coronavirus cases.
The field hospital was put in place to serve as backup for hospitals dealing with an overload of virus cases. The field hospital would have have handled patients facing other ailments as area hospitals would tend to COVID-19 patients.
“Don’t let this decision give you the impression that we are out of the woods. We have to keep our guard up and continue to stay home unless conducting essential activities to keep everyone healthy,” Inslee said in a statement. “We requested this resource before our physical distancing strategies were fully implemented and we had considerable concerns that our hospitals would be overloaded.”
Washington has a stay-at-home order in place currently through May 4 as over 9,000 cases have been confirmed in the state, nearly 4,000 in King County alone. As of Thursday night, 446 people have died from the disease in Washington.
The greater Seattle area was home to the first diagnosed cases of the novel coronavirus in the United States. The CenturyLink Events Center typically hosts Seahawks pregame activities as well as various trade shows throughout the year.