Friday afternoon, Gov. Jay Inslee announced that he is mandating the closure of all Washington schools from March 17 through at least April 24.

Inslee stated his intent to “restrict activities” at colleges, saying there would be no in-person courses through that date as well. The governor is also expanding his restriction on meetings of over 250 people to the entire state and expand visitor restrictions placed earlier this week on nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The announcement followed a proclamation of emergency signed by Bremerton Mayor Greg Wheeler on Thursday. On Friday, Poulsbo Mayor Becky Erickson signed a proclamation of emergency as well, city council is expected to affirm the proclamation Wednesday.

All school districts in Kitsap County had already announced closures through April 24 by Friday morning. As of Friday afternoon, the Kitsap Public Health District has confirmed three positive tests and 56 negative tests of COVID-19 in the county. At the state level, the department of health has confirmed 37 deaths and 568 cases of the virus as of Friday afternoon.