the following day, governor inslee announced plans to release nonviolent offenders and at-risk inmates to lower the risk of infection. at least two of the released prisoners were soon re-arrested. on april 10, the state department of health tallied one covid case to pacific county, but the pacific county emergency operations center said that the individual hasn't lived in the county for more than a month, tested positive in another state, and could not infect anyone in the county. may on may 5, the walla walla county department of community health announced that they had received reports of "covid-19 parties" that aimed to have infected people spread the disease for herd immunity. the report was later retracted after being spread among national and international news outlets. effective may 18, king county started requiring face coverings, to help reduce virus spread, at indoor public spaces, and outdoor where minimum distancing not possible. on may 22, two patients under the age of 20 were confirmed as having paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome (mis-c), a rare and potentially fatal condition related to covid-19. june june 4: data released on covid-19 cases in washington shows that individuals of hispanic descent are disproportionally affected by covid-19. in washington, individuals of hispanic descent represent only 13% of the population but make up 40% of total covid-19 cases. the state required public-facing workers to wear masks, starting june 8. effective june 26, washington state health department requires masks in all public indoor spaces, and outdoors when closer than 6 feet apart, with certain exceptions for age, ability, or when access to mouth needed. july effective july 7, statewide mask order strengthened; businesses require customers to wear face coverings. on july 26, yakima county surpassed 10,000 cases of the virus. october the state department of health announced an "interim" covid vaccine distribution plan on october 21. november on november 7, 2020, a wedding attended by more than 300 people near ritzville resulted in about 40 infections and two subsequent coronavirus outbreaks. on sunday november 15, 2020, governor jay inslee imposed new restrictions due to rising covid-19 cases. the restrictions include: prohibiting indoor gatherings with people outside of the household unless they complete a 14-day quarantine or quarantine for 7 days and test negative for covid-19 within 48 hours of the gathering. outdoor gatherings are limited to 5 people outside the household. indoor dining at restaurants is prohibited and outdoor dining is limited to 5 people at each table. other restrictions also apply. gyms and fitness facilities must close entirely for indoor activities and only some outdoor activities are permitted subject to restrictions. bowling centers must close for indoor service. movie theaters are closed for indoor service. drive-in movie theaters are permitted with restrictions. funerals and wedding ceremonies are limited to a total of no more than 30 people. indoor receptions, wakes, or similar gatherings in conjunction with such ceremonies are prohibited. in-store retail is limited to 25 percent of indoor occupancy limits and seating areas and indoor dining facilities such as food courts are closed. religious services are limited to 25 percent of indoor occupancy limits, or no more than 200 people, whichever is less. attendees must wear facial coverings at all times and congregation singing is prohibited. no choir, band, or ensemble shall perform during the service. vocal or instrumental soloists are permitted to perform, and vocal soloists may have a single accompanist. outdoors services can be held with restrictions. professional services are required to mandate remote work when possible and close offices to the public if possible. any office that must remain open must limit occupancy to 25 percent of indoor occupancy limits. at long-term care facilities outdoor visits are permitted. indoor visits are prohibited, but individual exceptions for an essential support person or end-of-life care are permitted. on november 30, the state department of health announced the launch of wa notify, washington state's official participation in the anonymous, smartphone-based exposure notification system developed by apple and google. government response united states vice president mike pence at washington state emergency operations center on february 29, governor jay inslee declared a state of emergency after the first us death attributable to covid-19 occurred in a man in his 50s with an underlying chronic health condition who had been admitted to evergreenhealth medical center after complaining of severe breathing problems. in a statement, inslee said, "it is a sad day in our state as we learn that a washingtonian has died from covid-19. our hearts go out to their family and friends. we will continue to work toward a day where no one dies from this virus." a second man in his 70s died at the same hospital a day later, the second us death attributable to covid-19. by march 2, the death toll in the seattle area had risen to six, nine by march 3 11 by march 5, and 18 by march 8. researchers at the fred hutchinson cancer research center and the university of washington analyzed the genomes of the first reported case in snohomish county from january 20 and a more recent case on february 28, and determined that the virus strain was related. their findings indicate that the virus may have been spreading through the community for close to six weeks. a drive-through testing facility was opened by the university of washington medical center in north seattle, which as of march 10 is only open to students and employees. seattle mayor jenny durkan declared a civil emergency on march 3. on march 3, public health – seattle & king county began establishing the white center covid-19 quarantine site. on march 5, united states vice president mike pence visited the state governor at washington state emergency operations center on camp murray, north of the state capital olympia, to discuss the crisis. on march 5, the number of confirmed cases jumped from 39 the previous day to 70, of which 51 were in king county and 18 in snohomish county. on march 5, inslee announced that the state would cover the costs of testing for washington residents without health insurance. at a news briefing with inslee, vice president pence said that air force two delivered 100,000 air-filtering n95 respirators, 100,000 surgical masks and 2,500 face shields to washington. the same day, washington's insurance commissioner, mike kreidler issued an emergency order to state health insurers requiring them to waive copays and deductibles for any consumer requiring coronavirus testing, effective until may 4. on march 9, governor inslee announced new rules—including mandatory screening for visitors and staff—for nursing homes to slow the spread of the virus. the state was also considering mandatory measures of social distancing to prevent spread. the governor's office announced that workers who have reduced hours or temporary unemployment due to the outbreak are eligible for unemployment benefits. on march 11, governor inslee invoked emergency powers and banned "social, spiritual, and recreational gatherings" of over 250 people in king, snohomish and pierce counties (including the core of the seattle metropolitan area) for at least the month of march. the order included provisions for its enforcement by the washington military department. on march 12, governor inslee announced closures for all public and private k-12 schools in king, snohomish, and pierce counties beginning from march 17 through at least april 24. later, on march 13, inslee announced k-12 closures until at least april 24 throughout the state. local transit agencies in the seattle area, including king county metro and sound transit, announced more frequent deep cleanings of their vehicles and facilities. within the first week of widespread work-from-home policies from local employers, sound transit ridership dropped 25 percent and metro reported a 13 percent decrease compared to march 2019. metro and sound transit also announced the temporary suspension of fare enforcement on buses and trains to reduce person-to-person contact. on march 15, governor inslee announced the closing of all sit-down restaurants statewide, noting that "very strong measures are necessary to slow the spread of the disease". restaurants are still allowed to offer takeout and drive through options. the governor also announced that he would issue an emergency proclamation ordering all entertainment and recreation facilities to temporarily close. the same order banned gatherings of groups of 50 or more statewide. on march 16, mayor jenny durkan announced $5 million in grocery vouchers for families impacted by covid-19. the city created the program to provide 6,250 families $800 each with vouchers for safeway stores in washington state. also, the seattle police department announced the suspension of all police front counter services and that public access to precinct and headquarters police facilities would be curtailed. a correctional officer at the king county correctional facility in seattle tested positive for covid-19 on march 16. he was last at work on march 8. on march 17, the seattle city council unanimously passed a moratorium on residential evictions. mayor durkan used her emergency powers to prohibit evictions on the basis of rent delinquency for 30 days or due to expiring leases. the city council expanded this to cover all evictions except when the health or safety of others is imminently threatened by tenant actions. the moratorium also prohibits late fees for tenants struggling to make rent payments. starting on march 17, king county correctional facilities stopped accepting people arrested for violating their state department of corrections community supervision; and is planning to transfer anyone in a king county correctional facility under such a warrant back to state custody. as of march 20, there were 180 such people in king county correctional facilities who may get transferred out. on march 18, the king county government began preparing the first of several field hospitals on a soccer field in shoreline that is anticipated to have 200 beds for coronavirus patients. the neighboring canadian province of british columbia ordered curtailment of meetings over 50 people on march 16 as part of its response to the pandemic. on march 21, the city of everett ordered residents and business owners to stay at home "until further notice", except for some essential workers. on march 22, president donald trump said the federal government would pay the costs of activation of the washington national guard while under control of the state governor. on march 22, 2020, retired navy admiral raquel c. bono was named by washington state governor jay inslee to lead the state's health system response to the pandemic. president donald trump also announced approval of washington emergency declaration, and have instructed federal assistance to be given to assist the local recovery efforts in fighting the coronavirus. governor inslee announced a statewide stay-at-home order on march 23, to last at least two weeks. on march 24, 2020, king county executive dow constantine signed an executive order suspending the department of adult & juvenile detention's work education release program. additionally, king county correctional facilities will no longer accept people due to misdemeanor charges, except for assaults, violations of no contact or protection orders, duis, sex crimes or other charges which present a serious public safety concern. on march 24, the city of ocean shores closed roads leading to pacific ocean beaches and declared a city-wide midnight curfew. the washington state parks system was closed on march 25, and access to department of natural resources land closed on march 26. most roads into olympic national park were also closed, as well as all facilities. roads in mount rainier national park were closed march 24, although "dispersed recreation" in the backcountry was allowed. on march 27, seattle mayor jenny durkan announced that the united states army corps of engineers and federal emergency management agency agreed to deploy a military field hospital at centurylink field. the field hospital was expected to create at least 150 hospital beds for non-covid-19 patients; and was to be staffed by 300 soldiers from the 627th hospital center from fort carson, colorado. on march 28, the port of seattle and the northwest seaport alliance made plans to make sections of terminal 46 available for trailers, container equipment and storage needs in support of the 10th field hospital being set up at centurylink field. the governor called up the washington national guard on march 31. until then, "only a few" activated guardsmen had been deployed to the state emergency operations center. on april 2, governor inslee announced