All gatherings are banned and all nonessential businesses must close in a new statewide order issued by Gov. Jay Inslee yesterday.

With more than 2,200 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 110 deaths across the state, Inslee said his “Stay Home, Stay Healthy order” is about buying time for hospitals and a result of Washingtonians’ failure to follow social distancing guidelines.

The order will last a minimum of two weeks. According to Washington law, willfully violating an emergency order is a gross misdemeanor, punishable with up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine. But whether law enforcement actually conducts arrests or issues fines remains to be seen.

✅ What’s allowed: People can still go outside — to visit the grocery store, seek medical care, or get exercise. Essential businesses, like banks, child care centers, and critical manufacturing companies will remain open. Restaurants are permitted to offer takeout and delivery.

Physical activities like gardening, walking the dog, or going for a bike ride are allowed, so long as people maintain six feet of distance.

🚫 What’s banned: All gatherings for “social, spiritual and recreational purposes” — everything from pickup basketball games at the park to weddings and funerals. All nonessential businesses must close within 48 hours of the order.

In other news…

A King County coronavirus monitoring program is looking for volunteers to participate in at-home testing, even if they don’t have COVID-related symptoms. The effort is related to the Seattle Flu Study, and will give researchers data so they can better predict how the virus is likely to spread. For those who are sick, officials emphasize that participation in the project should not be a substitute for consulting a medical provider. (The Seattle Times)

Boeing’s manufacturing plants will go dark for two weeks starting tomorrow. The decision came after an employee at the company’s Everett plant died of COVID-19 on Sunday. Tens of thousands of workers will receive paid leave during the shutdown, the company said. (Associated Press)

President Trump approved Washington state’s request for an emergency disaster declaration over the weekend, but Gov. Inslee says he’s still waiting to hear whether federal funding will come through for things like expanded unemployment assistance and food assistance. (KOMO News)

Dozens of Metro bus routes are on a reduced schedule. That means less-frequent service and routes that start later in the morning or end earlier in the evening. To see if your route has been affected, check the Metro website. Link light rail is also now running on a reduced schedule, and fares have been suspended for both transit agencies. (King County Metro, Sound Transit)

💰Ready to give to a local cause? A new website called All in Seattle offers a one-stop platform for potential donors. You can sort by cause (small businesses, housing and rental assistance, etc.) and then find donation pages for individual organizations, like United Way of King County and Capitol Hill Housing.

😷 Our medical personnel and first responders are in dire need of face masks and other protective equipment. The City of Seattle is asking businesses and households with unopened supplies to donate them, and a private coalition called Seattle Mask Brigade is also looking for donations and offering pickup.

🍽️ Chef Edouardo Jordan is turning his Salare restaurant into a relief kitchen for unemployed and under-employed industry workers. To-go dinners will be served daily between 3 and 7 p.m. out of the Ravenna kitchen. Donations are also accepted.

💸 Financial relief is coming to the Chinatown-International District, which started getting hit by COVID-related slowdowns weeks before any government shutdowns. Vulcan Inc. has kicked in $100,000 to jump start a fund that will deploy “rapid cash grants” to restaurants and other small businesses. Go here to make a personal donation.

🚀 Kids going stir-crazy? The Museum of Flight now offers virtual tours of airplanes and space shuttles, and the Seattle Art Museum has launched a Stay Home with SAM blog showcasing several of its exhibits.

📅 A couple things to put on your virtual calendar: Dance Church is back tomorrow evening at 5 p.m., and Citizen University’s Civic Saturday will be live-streamed this weekend.

Know of something else we should include here? Send an email to [email protected] with the subject line “bulletin board” and we’ll add it to a future newsletter.

Let’s close out with some bright spots, shall we?

• Pike Place Market vendors are leaning on one another to support online orders, sell each other’s products, and collect donations for the market’s Community Safety Net fund. So far, the communal approach seems to be working.
• Late last week, Providence hospitals put out a call seeking volunteers to sew coronavirus masks for medical staff. The community response was overwhelming, with tens of thousands of volunteers and local manufacturing companies signing up within hours.
• Local distillers are teaming up to manufacture alcohol-based hand sanitizer for medical providers, first responders, and bus drivers. “We will go 24/7 if necessary,” Batch 206 owner Jeff Steichen told Eater.

Keep looking for the helpers, Seattle. We’ll see you tomorrow.

— The Evergrey