Inslee: Washington needs more coronavirus test supplies

Gov. Jay Inslee said Sunday that Washington state still has a short of coronavirus testing kits and again suggested shutdown of most businesses and extreme social distancing would likely have to be extended to fight disease.

Inslee appeared on CNN’s “State of Union.” Washington has been testing more people for COVID-19 recently, but goverr said it lacks some necessary materials to do more.

“Things as simple as swabs. When little vials -- when you put swab in it to send it to lab, it needs a particular medium in it to preserve it. We just do t have those simple things,” Inslee said.

Democrat urged a “World War II” kind of mobilization to manufacture needed materials.

state Department of Health says more than 54,000 people have been tested for coronavirus in Washington. More than 4,300 have tested positive. At least 189 people have died.

For most people, coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in several weeks. For some, especially older ults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.

Inslee said two-week stay-at-home order he issued, which began March 25, would likely need to be extended or disease would “continue to spre like wildfire to every single corner of my state.”

“We are seeing some very modest success in bending that curve just a little bit, but that’s very unpredictable,” he said on CNN. “And we have a long, long ways to go. ”