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Feds: Washington leads the way when it comes to flattening the curve

SEATTLE — When it comes to flattening the curve of COVID-19 the rest of the country is watching Washington.

Dr. Anthony Fauci has held up Washington when he was asked about the growing cases in New York. "Very different from some places on the West Coast, like Washington state, which have been successfully able to prevent that big spike," said Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, also mentioned the progress in Washington.

“We continue to really applaud the work of California, Washington and Oregon --how they were able to keep the virus from ever becoming logarithmic. I think that’s an important lesson for all of us,” said Birx.

UW Medical Center- Northwest showed what it is like inside their COVID-19 Ward.

"We have about 20 patients in this ward," said Dr. Seth Cohen, infectious disease specialist.

He showed how the nurses' station is taped off with plastic.

All of the rooms in the ward have COVID-19 patients which allow them to use the same PPE's in multiple rooms-- which helps conserve the valuable resource.

“This whole unit is negative pressure, so the air coming out from the corridors then leaving the buildings through the rooms to minimize the risk at the nurses’ station,” said Cohen.

Big changes are taking place outside of hospitals too-- residents are staying home.

Graphs from the Washington State Department of Health show that it is working to flatten the curve

When Gov. Jay Inslee ordered people to stay home March 23, people listened.

"It's time to hunker down in order to win this fight," said Inslee.

The community's actions are being celebrated and reinforced. A flag saying "We Got This Seattle" flies from the Space Needle.

“We’re also seeing it’s working here in Seattle and we have bent the curve some. The unfortunate thing is people think we’re out of the woods and we’re far from out of the woods,” said Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan over the weekend.