OLYMPIA — The ability to track whom newly symptomatic coronavirus patients may have infected will be a key part of allowing the state to reopen, according to Gov. Jay Inslee and top public health officials.

Inslee said Wednesday that data trends do seem to indicate a reduction in COVID-19 activity in our state. He thanked Washingtonians for their commitment to the strict social distancing strategy Inslee and public health officials have urged thus far.

“This has been working,” Inslee assured, “This has been saving lives.”

He and public health officials like John Wiesman, secretary of the state Department of Health, agree that the transition of reopening will be dependent upon the state’s capacity to rapidly respond to newly confirmed cases by isolating them and finding out whom they may have been in close contact with.

Wiesman said Wednesday that patients with lab-confirmed COVID-19 infections will be called by the Department of Health, and will be given a “detailed interview” about whom they may have come into contact with while they were contagious. Then other members of the health department will contact the individuals who may have been infected by that person to inform them of their own risk of infection without disclosing who the original patient was.

According to Wiesman, the Department of Health is increasing its workforce to about 1,500 to conduct these investigations. He said this is a necessary part to respond to and contain new infections as the state resumes aspects of working life before the outbreak.

The governor said he is waiting on specific disease models to be released before announcing the specific timeline for the gradual transition into reopening all areas of the economy. A transition that he described as being more like a “dial,” and less like a “switch.”

Inslee said the decision on how this transition will be implemented will ultimately be decided on what the data indicates about the rate of infections and hospitalizations from COVID-19. He emphasized the need for additional testing capacity as part of this transition and urged the federal government to provide more testing kits and materials.