Our nightly roundup of local (mostly, this time) info related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak:
KING COUNTY NUMBERS UPDATE: From the daily Seattle-King County Public Health update:
12 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported to Public Health – Seattle & King County through 11:59 p.m. on 3/7/20, bringing the total number of reported King County cases to 83.
Of the 12 new cases reported today, two are deaths. The total number of deaths reported to Public Health is now 17. The two deaths being reported today include:
A woman in her 80s, a Life Care Center resident, was hospitalized at EvergreenHealth, and who died on 3/6/20
A man in his 90s, a Life Care Center resident, was hospitalized at Harborview Medical Center, and who died 3/5/20Of the 17 deaths reported, 16 are associated with Life Care Center.
NEW FORMAT FOR DAILY STATEWIDE REPORTS: As mentioned last night, the state changed the time and format for its daily reports (which are always at this link). Now it’s including the breakdown by age groups among confirmed COVID-19 cases among other stats – here are screengrabs from today’s report:
Again, those are STATEWIDE numbers. We have generally been just publishing the King County numbers in this nightly report, but with the format change, the statewide report seemed worth a closer look tonight.
LOOKING FOR A WORLDWIDE OVERVIEW? Try the Johns Hopkins-produced dashboard.
CRUISE CONCERNS + WHAT WE DISCOVERED ABOUT ONE QUARANTINED SHIP: With Seattle a major, albeit seasonal, cruise-ship hub, it’s worth noting that the State Department tweeted today that Americans should avoid cruising because of the coronavirus outbreak:
U.S. citizens, especially with underlying conditions, should not travel by cruise ship. #CDC notes increased risk of #COVID19 on cruises. Many countries have implemented screening procedures, denied port entry rights to ships and prevented disembarking. https://t.co/jh93gZTkpC pic.twitter.com/jI6S0UceVg
— Travel – State Dept (@TravelGov) March 8, 2020
The cruise season in Seattle is scheduled to start April 1st – and when we looked up the schedule (PDF) tonight, we discovered that the first ship scheduled to call here is Grand Princess, currently dealing with a COVID-19 crisis. Grand Princess’s scheduled stop is its only Seattle visit on the schedule; it’s not listed as one of the ships slated to be based from here this season. But we’ll be following up tomorrow with the cruise line and the Port of Seattle.
(Port of Seattle photo, October 2019)
Added: Grand Princess also was the last cruise ship to stop in Seattle last year. 2nd addition: Here’s a comment from the port:
We appreciate the work of the federal government and cruise lines to institute new protocols related to cruise passenger safety and health. This is a rapidly developing situation and we are in daily contact with federal and local officials.
The safety, health, and well-being of cruise passengers, employees, community, and first responders always comes first. Therefore, we are actively reviewing multiple options about the launch of the 2020 cruise season with our cruise operators, the United States Coast Guard, public health authorities, and local leaders. We are using the time before cruise season starts to closely coordinate with our partners. We will report back to the public soon with further information about our upcoming plans for the season.
SOUTH SEATTLE COLLEGE REMINDER: In case you missed the Saturday announcement, a reminder – South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) is ceasing most in-person classes and moving to “alternative modes of instruction” for the rest of winter quarter starting Tuesday, after taking tomorrow to plan and communicate. SSC’s updates are here.
GLOBAL READING CHALLENGE: With Seattle Public Library events canceled – though the facilities remain open – that mean the Global Reading Challenge semifinals, set to start continuing tomorrow morning, are going “virtual.”
WHAT’S CANCELED, POSTPONED, CHANGED LOCALLY: We’re keeping a 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.
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