CORONAVIRUS: Friday 5/1 roundup

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news

The suspense is over; a new expiration date is attached to the stay-home order, and that starts tonight’s roundup:

MAY 31ST: That’s the extended end date Gov. Inslee announced this afternoon, two days after he said the order would be extended without saying until when. That’s four added weeks, if you’ve lost track. He also detailed the four phases in which the state’s economy would reopen, without attaching dates aside from saying each phase would be in place at least three weeks before a move to the next one would be considered:

See a full-size version here; see video of the announcement (and media Q&A) in our coverage.

NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: Exactly nine weeks after the announcement of King County’s first confirmed COVID-19 case, here’s today’s update from the Public Health data dashboard:

*6,407 people have tested positive, up 99 from yesterday

*449 people have died, up 3 from yesterday

One week ago, those totals were 5,689 and 387.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.

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

PARK PARKING CHANGES AHEAD: More than a month after Seattle Parks closed the parking lots at Lincoln Park (and elsewhere), something new showed up in the south lot:

The blocks in the background are three of a half-dozen-plus placed around the lot by the city, which responded to our inquiry by saying they’re part of a test to see how they might partly reopen the lot for ADA access.

MORE ‘STAY HEALTHY STREETS’: The day began with SDOT‘s announcement that the next expansion of this program closing certain streets to through traffic (residents and deliveries are OK) would include another east West Seattle stretch. See the map and list in our coverage.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS – AND SPRAY: Tonight, the morale-boosting hour of Seattle Fire crews tourine neighborhoods included this sight off Alki:

Thanks to those who sent photos! That one is by Raul Baron.

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

anonyme May 2, 2020 (7:54 am)

I’m beginning to understand the frustration around being locked up. For seniors, it looks like the isolation may continue almost indefinitely – months more, for sure. Even extremely introverted misanthropes need to get out once in a while, have a conversation, even if it’s just with the bus driver or waitstaff at a restaurant. Many seniors are already very isolated and having lunch out or doing a bit of shopping may be their only social contact. Now even those small lifelines have been removed, and the effects are both psychological and physical. I wonder how many seniors will die, not from Covid, but from isolation related to it? I realize the necessity of the restrictions but wish there were more options. The other frustration is related to ageism. Many (or most) younger people avoid talking to older people, presuming that they have nothing relevant to say. If they speak to elders at all, it’s in a patronizing and dismissive way. This adds insult to injury, as the person who is already feeling isolated is treated as also being stupid and irrelevant. This problem exists outside of the pandemic but is made worse by it.

Greg May 2, 2020 (10:14 am)

Thank you for your words and perspective. I have been guilty of not listening to you. Maybe I’m frightened of getting older myself. I will look for opportunities to be more humane.
what May 2, 2020 (11:24 am)

We need to help the seniors in our lives to set up Skype and Face Time. If they don’t have kids or grandkids to Skype with, then they can Skype with eachother.
Stay well May 2, 2020 (11:55 am)

Thanks for sharing. I’m concerned about seniors stress level during this time. Both to your point regarding isolation, but also because they are the most vulnerable to this virus. That elevated risk level must be scary. I try to give seniors a lot of space at grocery stores. What more can we do to help keep them safe, but also not so socially isolated?
- West Seattle since 1979 May 2, 2020 (6:35 pm)
  
  Well, for one thing, quit talking about us like we’re a different breed! It’s almost proving what anonyme says above! What age are you considering “seniors” to be? I know people in their 80s and 90s who are online.
A person of an age May 2, 2020 (6:12 pm)

No buying the comment about younger people being patronizing and dismissive. This is a divisive comment chock with bias. I challenge you to prove it with evidence. Or, attempt to prove that the youth don’t feel patronized or dismissed.

anonyme May 2, 2020 (7:15 pm)

Ironic that you would immediately dismiss my own experience as not being adequate evidence. What kind of “evidence” would you suggest? And who do you mean by “the youth”? I actually get along great with teenagers; I’ve found them to be far less judgmental than their parents. My point is that we live in a culture that segregates in many ways, age being one of them. People are still individuals at any age, and no single group is homogeneous. Even the ‘senior’ category can represent entirely different generations. Ageism happens to be one of the ‘ism’s’ that is seldom scrutinized; I’m just saying that we should all avoid stereotypes and treat one another as equals – and as individuals. Think of old people as having a different skin type – wrinkled.

Sorry, comment time is over.