CORONAVIRUS: Monday 3/9 toplines – first publicly disclosed West Seattle case; council briefing; SFD protection; more…

Here’s our nightly roundup of local COVID-19-related neww:

KING COUNTY’S UPDATED NUMBERS: From this afternoon’s Seattle-King County Public Health news release:

33 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported to Public Health – Seattle & King County through 11:59 p.m. on 3/8/20, bringing the total number of reported King County cases to 116.

Of the 33 new cases reported today, two are deaths. In addition, one person who was previously reported as a positive case has now died. The total number of deaths reported to Public Health is now 20. The three deaths being reported today include:

A woman in her 80s, a Life Care Center resident, was hospitalized at EvergreenHealth, and died on 3/4/20. (This case is included in the 33 new cases reported today.)

A woman in her 90s, a Life Care Center resident, was hospitalized at Harborview Medical Center, and died on 3/8/20. (This case is included in the 33 new cases reported today.)

A woman in her 70s, a Life Care Center resident, who was hospitalized at EvergreenHealth, and who died on 3/8/20 (This case was previously reported as a positive case on 3/4/20, in an earlier case count.)

Of the 20 [King County] deaths reported, 19 are associated with Life Care Center.

OTHER NUMBERS: Official dally statewide reports are here; a nationwide/worldwide look is here,

FIRST CASE PUBLICLY LINKED TO WEST SEATTLE: As we reported earlier in the evening, a South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) student has a confirmed case of COVID-19 and is now in “self-isolation.” The college was already moving to “alternatve modes of instruction” for the rest of winter quarter and is now going entirely into remote-operation mode, as explained here.

CITY COUNCIL BRIEFING: Seattle City Councilmembers had their first meeting by phone today. Starting seven minutes in, they got a COVID-19 briefing from county and city officials:

REP. JAYAPAL’S TOWN HALL: We listened in tonight as U.S. House Rep. Pramila Jayapal, also accompanied by a local Public Health official, presided over an hourlong telephnne town hall focused on the outbreak. We haven’t yet found a recording of it but the major bit of news was that the federal government is sending more protection gear. 4,000+ people listened in, Jayapal noted. Her website’s coronavirus infopage is here

SEATTLE FIRE DEPARTMENT: Wondering what kind of training firefighters are getting regarding dealing with medical calls? SFD published this video:

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TOP HAT QUARANTINE/ISOLATION SITE: No patients at the SW 112th site yet. We followed up with King County today and will be writing a story for White Center Now shortly; we’ll link it here when published. (10:30 pm update: Here’s the link.)

TIRED OF WORKING ALONE AT HOME? Kevin is starting a daily community bike ride.

RESPONSE FUND: Want to help the organizations on the front lines of COVID-19 community response? Heather shares this link about a new fund.

TOMORROW: Gov. Jay Inslee just announced a 9 am news conference “to detail new policies that will support workers and businesses impacted by COVD-19, as well as announce a directive for long-term facilities in the state. The governor’s office says it will be streamed on TVW.

WHAT’S CANCELED, POSTPONED, CHANGED LOCALLY: We’re continuing to update our West Seattle list – see it here. If your organization, business, church, school, group, etc. has cancellations, postponements, changes, PLEASE let us know – westseattleblog@gmail.com or text/voice 206-293-6302.

WSB CONTINUING COVERAGE: Everything we publish related to the COVID-19 situation is categorized so that you can find it anytime at westseattleblog.com/category/coronavirus. We’re also using Twitter (@westseattleblog) for instant bursts.

12 Replies to "CORONAVIRUS: Monday 3/9 toplines - first publicly disclosed West Seattle case; council briefing; SFD protection; more..."

  • Lizzy March 9, 2020 (10:04 pm)

    Is there somewhere to volunteer to help elderly around here get groceries or something? 

    • WSB March 9, 2020 (10:19 pm)

      If you can, the best thing might be to network in your neighborhood … Rep. Jayapal (who lives in our area, last I heard) said her neighbors had been using email to check in on older neighbors, see if they needed help, etc. But we’re about to the point where we’ll be proactively asking local nonprofits what more people can do – TR

    • Tf March 9, 2020 (10:25 pm)

      Great question. I’d like to know how to help as well. Maybe the senior center would be a good starting point. 

    • Fatiha March 9, 2020 (11:28 pm)

      You can start from WS food bank, they deliver food to the seniors around here 

  • Rachel Lanera March 10, 2020 (6:10 am)

    Meals On Wheels has grocery delivery for seniors, not just frozen meals. They always need volunteers. Not sure how the virus has impacted this service. 

  • Pilsner March 10, 2020 (8:16 am)

    Looks like South Seattle College is now fully closed.

  • savoirfaire March 10, 2020 (11:27 am)

    You could also maybe try checking in with the West Seattle Neighbors Network:https://www.westsideneighborsnetwork.org/I know at one point they were working on creating a West Seattle “Village” organization which would support people who were aging in place rather than going into assisted living. Don’t know if that happened or not.

  • emcat8 March 10, 2020 (1:16 pm)

    I just want to give a shout-out to Rep. Jayapal and her team for being informative and proactive since the early days of finding out what was happening here. The emails and the town hall are very helpful–I wasn’t able to listen in last night due to work stuff, but I really appreciate how on top of this she’s been. 

  • Bradley March 10, 2020 (2:32 pm)

    I’ve seen countless people at Safeway, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and QFC using the debit card reader keypads, baskets, ATMs, and touchscreens and not sanitizing their hands afterwards. I’ve seen more than one touch their eyes, nose, or mouth immediately afterwards. Stores can’t close like colleges and high schools. We absolutely need them to stay open. Those keypads are touched by thousands of people all day, every day. Please carry hand sanitizer and use it! You may save the life of an elderly person or a young person with health issues. If you can’t find hand sanitizer, use the store-provided shopping cart wipes.

  • anonyme March 11, 2020 (8:25 am)

    I appreciate the concern being shown for older members of our community and hope that some kind of contact hub can be set up that does not rely on restrictive online groups or smartphone apps.  I’m probably more tech-friendly than a lot of people my age and older, but finding self-quarantine increasingly difficult.  For example, I tried to get a prescription refill delivered and can only do so with a special app that relies on data, which I don’t have on my phone.  Grocery delivery services are great, but limited as to what you can buy.  And a lot of seniors would love some good take-out from our local restaurants, but either can’t use or can’t afford the delivery surcharge.  A well-organized volunteer effort would not only be appreciated, but would help our local economy.

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