CORONAVIRUS: Friday 3/27 roundup

Ending the week, and the second full day of the “stay-home order,” exactly four weeks after the first King County COVID-19 case was announced, here are the day’s developments:

KING COUNTY’S NEWEST NUMBERS: From today’s Seattle-King County Public Health news release:

1,828 confirmed positive cases (up 251 from yesterday)

125 confirmed deaths (up 16 from yesterday)

DATA DASHBOARD’S BACK: It now shows 14,140 people have test results so far in King County. Among them, in the zip codes that are wholly or partly in West Seattle:

98106 – 141 tested, 13 positive, 0 deaths
98116 – 171 tested, 13 positive, 0 deaths
98126 – 180 tested, 17 positive, 1 death
98136 – 103 tested, 8 positive, 1 death
98146 – 133 tested, 14 positve, 0 deaths

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: 3,723 confirmed cases, 175 deaths; see other state stats here.

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: Find them – nation by nation – here.

MORE TESTING: Today’s county news release also has this note:

Testing capacity for COVID-19 continues to expand throughout the community through the University of Washington lab, commercial laboratories, and large health care systems. Large health care systems and community clinics are increasingly offering testing for people who are symptomatic. Residents should call ahead to providers to confirm availability and testing appointments/processes.

NEED FOOD? The city has a new interactive map showing places/times that it’s available to those who need it, including the Seattle Public Schools lunch sites, food banks, and senior centers.

NEW ‘HYGIENE CENTER‘: On the heels of the city’s announcement of shelter expansion -including room for up to 50 people at Southwest Teen Life Center – they’re also sending portable restrooms and hand-washing stations to six city parks including Westcrest Park in southeast West Seattle.

MORE TRANSPORTATION SERVICE CUTS: West Seattle service reductions (among other places) have been announced by Washington State Ferries and by Sound Transit.

ANOTHER SLOGAN: “Keep A Lid on It, Seattle.” Here’s what that’s about.

RESTAURANTS/BEVERAGE BUSINESSES: Every day we’re getting updates for our West Seattle (and part of White Center) list – if you can get takeout this weekend and help support some of these local businesses, check it out!

MEMORABLE MARQUEE: One local restaurant – Boss Drive-In in South Delridge – has a message with which we agree wholeheartedly:

Thanks to the texter who sent that!

GOT INFO? westseattleblog@gmail.com or text/voice 206-293-6302 – thank you!

22 Replies to "CORONAVIRUS: Friday 3/27 roundup"

  • Yma March 27, 2020 (9:49 pm)

    Boss Drive I in, you rock!honestly didn’t know of you before – but now we’re gonna order take out/ curbside.Really want to keep our small businesses going

  • HS March 27, 2020 (10:15 pm)

    I am concerned about 50 homeless people being sheltered at the SW Teen Life Center. It is a single family residential neighborhood and that’s a huge group of people for a neighborhood. In contrast 24 people are being sheltered in the entirety of Harbor Island. 

    • KM March 27, 2020 (10:41 pm)

      I live a couple blocks from the Southwest Teen Life Center and we absolutely have room for 50 neighbors, and plenty more. Come on.

      • HS March 27, 2020 (10:54 pm)

        They need sleeping space for 50 people – expanded sleeping space. The SW Teen Center TOTAL footprint is 11,216 s.f. versus Loyal Heights at 26,500 s.f. 

        • KM March 27, 2020 (11:22 pm)

          Your initial post specifically complained about space for the “neighborhood” of “single-family” residences, and I’m calling you out on that. It’s gross.

          • HS March 28, 2020 (12:27 am)

            I hear what you’re saying. However, it’s not appropriate to overload a neighborhood. A full block in this neighborhood, all four sides, probably houses 50 people. So, putting 50 homeless people in the Teen Center, not a community center (thus not meeting minimum building size for that designation) is a lot of people for this neighborhood. Why not increase the numbers on Harbor Island or split the numbers between southern and northern WS? I also question services and covered outdoor space in this neighborhood. Where do these people go if it’s pouring rain all day? It’s nuts.

          • Janelle March 28, 2020 (7:16 am)

            I’m with you KM, thanks for speaking up

    • AMD March 28, 2020 (3:45 am)

      Homeless people are people, not freight.  It is absolutely more appropriate to shelter them in a residential neighborhood than Harbor Island.  I can’t believe I need to say that.  It’s galling that ANY homeless people are being “stored” on Harbor Island, though I understand we’re in an emergency right now so they need whatever space they can find quickly.  This site has much better access to transit and other necessities than Harbor Island.  More to the point, it’s a building that’s currently empty – an important criteria when you’re trying to expand indoor shelter space in an emergency way.  Those that can afford homes aren’t the only ones that deserve to be in neighborhoods with other people.

  • HS March 27, 2020 (10:33 pm)

    The city notice inaccurately lists the SW Teen Center as a community center. This neighborhood does not have community center. The building is significantly smaller than a community center. (For example they are also sheltering 50 people in the Loyal Heights Community Center – a much larger building.)

    • Daphneadora March 28, 2020 (3:03 am)

      The SW Teen Life Center was a community center until Jan. 2012 when it became the SWTLC due to lack of city funding for community centers. The size of the building is not what makes it a community center.I don’t know how much time you’ve spent in that building, but I’ve spent a considerable amount of time there and there is plenty of room for 50 to have space from each other. More than the 5 people in my household do! There is a gym, several rooms of various sizes, a kitchen, showers, and several restrooms.It is also across the street from Denny and Sealth. If having 1,900 children attend school on the same street doesn’t “overload” the neighborhood, I don’t see how 50 people could.

    • OneTimeCharley March 28, 2020 (4:52 am)

      Please just stop HS. This is a time of emergency, and the basketball court has plenty of room for cots. There are bathing and personal hygiene facilities within the building which is temporarily closed anyway. I live within one block of said building and welcoming those in need will be no issue at all for my neighbors and I. There is plenty of room for a short duration stay. I hope you will reconsider your thoughts on this HS, but it is going to happen whether you do or do not. Please make it easier on yourself, and everyone else, by simply putting it out of your mind if you find it unbearable. Thank you for that in advance. After all, these steps are similar to what we would be doing when the ‘big one’ hits. Well, think of this as the ‘big one’ if that helps.

      • HS March 28, 2020 (9:28 am)

        Okay. Clearly my opinion is not in the majority. I appreciate the well said responses. I still stand by my concerns that this is too many people for this space and that a SFR neighborhood does not have the services nor outdoor coverage for a larger group as shelters are closed during the day.

        • OneTimeCharley March 28, 2020 (4:42 pm)

           A sincere thank you HS. I know your concerns are real. We will all get through this, and come out the other side, knowing that we all sacrificed for the good of our community, in one way or another. Please stay safe from the virus, and the rest will take care of itself. <Huggs>

        • Cody March 28, 2020 (7:35 pm)

          HS – your concerns come off loud and clear as “not in my back yard” rhetoric. there’s a space to give people a chance to survive. it isn’t up to you to say otherwise, and if it were, it’s obvious you’d make the wrong choice.

  • J March 28, 2020 (8:55 am)

    For those watching stats… king county is now reporting a 13% positive rate on testing, even if statewide it’s 7%. NY has been jumping as well. It looked near 25% at the start of the week and is getting closer to 50% positive.

    • CAM March 28, 2020 (11:10 am)

      I had noticed that for the last couple days. It makes me wonder why. It could be because we are undertesting in comparison to other areas that have smaller outbreaks. It could also be because we’ve started testing some of the communities that would be of great concern for rapid spread if it got into them. Is it because we’re starting to test health professionals? Any of those things would be very worrying, not that I’m not already worried. Did you have any thoughts as to why?

      • J March 28, 2020 (2:40 pm)

        New York and King County are reserving more and more tests for hospitalized and medical staff, I would imagine because demand is rapidly outpacing supply. So, as hospitals are filling with critically ill, a greater percentage will be positive. I think multiplying the deaths by 800 to 1600 would give a better estimate on current positives. If you do this you see there probably is a huge number of less critical positives at home right now in King County… less than New York. Maybe 100,000 or more in King County.

  • Orwell March 28, 2020 (10:07 am)

    The death rate remains very low for a flu at 0.003318 or 0.3% ! (175 die out of 52,738 tested so far.  Much less than odds of dying in auto accident,Of course each life a tragedy!  Perhaps there will be peace for some as mathematical facts solidify,

    • Kevin Cyr March 28, 2020 (6:14 pm)

      Deaths per the total number tested (including negatives) is a meaningless statistic. 

  • Community Member March 28, 2020 (10:32 am)

    I agree that a city-owned facility with an unused gym + showers is an appropriate building to use as an emergency shelter. …On another topic, I followed the “Keep a Lid On It” link. They say to put extra recycling in a bag next to the cart. They have a picture of a paper bag of recycling. And then they say “DO NOT put recyclables inside of bags.” Hmm. 

    • AMD March 28, 2020 (5:05 pm)

      Perhaps it could be clearer, but you can/should put extra recyclables in a PAPER bag (which is itself recyclable) next to the cart.  Recyclables in PLASTIC bags (not recyclable) will be treated as trash because they’re in a non-recyclable container.

  • Mj March 28, 2020 (1:28 pm)

    This sucks. However we must remember that most people who are unlucky and contract the virus have mild symptoms. This hopefully will be behind us soon.

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