Though the governor annoonced his “recovery plan” tonight, it was devoid of dates. That tops tonight’s roundup:
‘A SAFE RETURN TO PUBLIC LIFE’: That seems to be the subtitle for what Gov. Inslee discussed in tonight’s short speech; our coverage, with video, is here, including notes from the non-streamed media Q&A shortly afterward. His office has since published a “policy brief” including this visual explanation:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Seattle-King County Public Health data dashboard:
*5,379 people have tested positive, up 86 from yesterday
*372 people have died, up 12 from yesterday
One week ago, those totals were 4,620 and 303.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: Find them here.
BUDGET HIT: The city estimates COVID-19 will take $210 million to $300 million from its coffers. This news release explains some of what’s being done about that.
CO2 SHORTAGE? Reader Lara called our attention to this report in The Guardian, suggesting a pandemic-related carbon-dioxide supply shortage,might affect water treatment. She hadn’t seen anything about it in local media. So we asked the city about it. The response:
Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) was made aware of a supply chain issue involving CO2 in early April 2020. We quickly worked to find solutions to the potential issue, including identifying back-up chemical suppliers and sourcing options.
After detailed discussions with the vendor and other utilities, SPU determined that its vendor can meet the Utility’s CO2 supply needs. The vendor considers SPU an essential customer, a designation which gives highest priority for deliveries. To date, there has not been any interruption in CO2 delivery.
SPU will continue to closely monitor its chemical storage levels, future chemical needs and vendor supplies.
SPU has identified backup treatment options if future CO2 supplies become limited. Even if there was a shortage of carbon dioxide in the future, water delivery from the treatment plant would not be compromised.
SPU uses CO2 “for pH adjustment at the Tolt Treatment Plant,” which supplies about 30 percent of Seattle water. (More background on city water, by the way, is in this WSB story from 2016.)
SCAM ALERT: Scammers are continuing to try to take advantage of people worried about COVID-19. Here’s the latest warning.
QUARANTINE REINDEER: In last night’s roundup, we featured another cheer-providing display, an inflatable dragon. Tonight – Diane‘s photo of Rudolph‘s springtime return.
She spotted Rudolph east west of Westwood Village.
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