Gov. Jay Inslee’s COVID 19 emergency declaration expired Oct. 31, fading away 31 months after he first declared a statewide emergency Feb. 29, 2020. Recall his TV appearances through March as the coronavirus spread worldwide and Inslee moved to expand public health measures.

Reflect on the earliest dark days of the coronavirus pandemic when it was an unknown threat whose scourge seemed limitless. Increasingly, everything was shut down and we were all told to stay home. We locked ourselves up in our houses. Schools were shut, church services canceled, businesses closed. We gave each other...