Washington governor asks feds for medical staffing help

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington Gov. Jay Inlsee has asked the federal government for assistance staffing hospitals and long-term care facilities in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Inslee wrote Jeffrey Zients, the White House COVID-19 coordinator, that the state Department of Health has requested 1,200 clinical and non-clinical staff, and that he was requesting deployment of Department of Defense medical personnel “to assist with the current hospital crisis.” Inslee spokesman Mike Faulk said the state had not yet received a response.