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Fun in the sun plans? Not this weekend. Stay home. Don’t travel. Stay healthy

caption: File photo: Khai Tran, a utility worker with Seattle Parks and Recreation, sprays water onto a swing-set before a mixture of bleach and water is applied to the West Woodland Park Playground as a result of the coronavirus outbreak on Thursday, March 19, 2020, in Seattle. KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
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File photo: Khai Tran, a utility worker with Seattle Parks and Recreation, sprays water onto a swing-set before a mixture of bleach and water is applied to the West Woodland Park Playground as a result of the coronavirus outbreak on Thursday, March 19, 2020, in Seattle. KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer

With sunny weather in the forecast this week, officials in some tourist towns are worried that people will break the stay home orders. KUOW’s Paige Browning has this update.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Governor Jay Inslee just wrapped up another news conference. He had officials from the San Juan Islands and some other destinations with him. What did they have to say to people for this weekend?

Basically, stay home. These leaders are normally promoting how great their towns are for vacations. Today, they're saying please don't come.

Ocean Shores Mayor Crystal Dingler actually set a curfew in Ocean Shores from midnight to 5 a.m. Here's her message to people who want to vacation there: “Stay home stay healthy. We love you. But please don't come visit us now.”

Dingler, along with representatives from Spokane, San Juan Islands and Yakima spoke out together today. This is part of a broad message by elected leaders in our state really pushing this message to stay home.

That order is very much still in place. Small towns don't want to Seattle folk visiting and potentially putting them at risk.

These are places that rely heavily on tourism for much of the year. They say they're willing to give that up?

It's a sacrifice they say they're willing to make. Victoria Compton is with the San Juan Economic Development Council. She put it this way: “The immediate hit to our economy is enormous, but it won't be as huge as it would be if we have repeated outbreaks by not getting it under control right now.”

Here in Seattle, major parks are going to be closed this weekend. Is that going to be enforced?

Police will make appearances at the park. So will park staff, to shoo people out. The Seattle Police chief says we can't police our way out of this pandemic.

It's sort of an honor system. They're asking people to think before they leave the house. It's sunny out. There's a lot of temptation. She says the city will consider closing parks for longer, or closing neighborhood parks, if visitors can't follow the safety guidelines.

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.

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