31 Replies to "CORONAVIRUS: Monday 5/18 roundup"

• Neighbor Near Sanislo May 18, 2020 (10:50 pm)

  Darn. I believed that sign posted on the fence at Sanislo. Had a great time playing there a couple of days ago with our two kiddos. We did sanitize our hands afterwards, but still…. I feel foolish for falling for this realistic sign. Who goes through the trouble to do something like this??

• hi May 18, 2020 (11:04 pm)

  Why would someone put up a fake sign?

• russ May 19, 2020 (12:10 am)

  That sign….. If you believe herd immunity is realistic, which i don’t, that does not give you the right to try and bait people into possible community transmission.  That is no better than propaganda.

  The Sanislo sign, not the Arbor Heights sign. The Arbor Heights sign is fantastic.

• Details May 19, 2020 (6:02 am)

  The fake sign says, “practice frequent HANDING washing.”

• Smittytheclown May 19, 2020 (6:24 am)

  91% of deaths are people 60 and older.  2 deaths in the days.  We need to keep the vulnerable quarantined but start letting everyone else get back to work before we dip into depression.  This is getting ridiculous. 

  • Anne May 19, 2020 (7:30 am)

    Do you have any idea who / how many qualifies as VULNERABLE ?Or do you just want to quarantine anyone 60+? Do you not see reports of many perfectly healthy folks-including youth getting sick-seriously sick? Thankfully they aren’t a death statistic -but no one knows what the long term  impact  on health of those who have had serious case of C-19 might be. Ridiculous is not a word I would use concerning a pandemic which had no vaccine yet. 

    • smittytheclown May 19, 2020 (9:19 am)

      Just using the “data” as we are asked to rely on daily.
      The goal was to flatten the curve not to stay locked down until a virus was developed. Something that may never happen, by the way.Books will be written about the number of people who died of undetected illness while hospitals sat empty.Books will be written about the collapse of the economy driving people into despair even though the death rate for under 60 is similar to the flu.https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/498180-were-risking-national-suicide-if-we-dont-adjust-our-pandemic-response

      • Elton May 19, 2020 (12:37 pm)

        I don’t think at any point he governor has said that we’re going to stay locked down until a vaccine is developed. The point is to re-open the economy in a phased manner because flattening the curve is pointless if we create a new curve 2 weeks after re-opening the economy and overwhelm the medical system. If we had widespread testing, I expect that the phases would’ve started sooner. The data on cases is certainly being underreported due to the lack of testing, and lack of testing is the first barrier to entry from being able to do the effective contact tracing needed. With that in place, seems like we can re-open a lot of businesses (those that don’t require mass gatherings, at least) and manage the spread of COVID to a degree that is manageable by our health care system and is an acceptable level of human life lost. If you disagree, feel free to move to Florida – I think the government officials there agree with your perspective so you can move around freely with probably a lower cost of living to boot.

        • WSB May 19, 2020 (1:25 pm)

          In fact, during another briefing this morning, which we didn’t carry here, the governor announced revised Phase 2 criteria that will allow additional counties to move on if they choose, such as Kitsap and Thurston.

        • smittytheclown May 19, 2020 (8:00 pm)

          Got it.Let’s stay locked down even though the death rate matches that of the common flu (for those under 60).  Makes sense.Carry on.

        • Elton May 20, 2020 (12:32 am)

          So the governor’s plan keeps the death rate down and he’s scolded for executing on a plan that saves thousands of lives because not enough people died. If the governor did nothing, he’s be scolded as irresponsible and we’d have a much higher death rate. Nice job Inslee has. I guess the situation in Italy and New York doesn’t phase a lot of people who haven’t lost loved ones due to Covid, but if the collapse of the medical system there doesn’t convince you that this disease is serious then I suppose nothing will. Carry on. 

  • Elton May 19, 2020 (7:47 am)

    It’s to soon to know what the long term implications are of getting covid and surviving. It’s not necessarily harmless just because you don’t die within a couple of weeks. There’s also been a resurgence of kawasaki syndrome in New England, so we can’t be sure this isn’t going to affect children in a different form.

    • Cool Rick May 19, 2020 (8:24 am)

      The “resurgence” of Kawasaki Syndrome has not been definitively linked to COVID. Even if it were definitively correlated, it’s such a minuscule percentage of cases that this virus would still be less deadly for children than the flu.

      Using that as justification to extend a universal shutdown policy is completely unreasonable. So is the argument that we still don’t know what the long term health impacts are. We can’t eliminate all risk forever from this one specific virus at the cost of destroying the economy and society as we know it. We have to begin to move forward. People need to stop living in fear and look at the reality of what is actually happening.

    • Seaweed May 20, 2020 (10:26 am)

      @Elton You may soon be made weary for all your alarmist posturing.

    • Stay well May 20, 2020 (12:32 pm)

      Thank you for sharing this relevant information for other peoples benefit. 

      It’s true, there are some recent reports of some unique and serious presentations in children. Also, some covid-19 patients and doctors have reported longer term health impacts from the virus, like lung scarring and reduced lung capacity.

      https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/what-coronavirus-does-to-the-lungs

      This isn’t alarmist, it’s simply sharing relevant information.  The more informed, the better choices people can make for themselves and others.

• Flo B May 19, 2020 (6:25 am)

  WSB. Does the state/county offer a breakdown how many people who passed or were hospitalized were in long term care facilities or had health conditions that were the main cause?

  • Um, No! May 19, 2020 (7:02 am)

    I can’t remember where I saw it but I think death related to long term health care facilities and the like was something like 60%?   I wish I could remember where this was stated but it’s been a couple weeks so that number could have gone up or down a bit.   Edit: It was Q13. It’s actually 61% as of the 5/6 article. This included patients, employees and visitors.

    https://q13fox.com/2020/05/06/61-of-state-coronavirus-deaths-linked-to-long-term-care-facilities/

• Lin May 19, 2020 (8:58 am)

  If daycare opens on June 1st, I’m just wondering what are parents’ thoughts about sending their children back? We’re kind of torn as our four year old is really missing her friends but we also feel social distancing is pretty much impossible at a daycare.

  • SeaVieu May 19, 2020 (9:41 am)

    Lin – This is an excellent question and these decisions are going to weigh heavily on parents (our eldest is 4 as well). My latest thought is to get her back up to date on her vaccines (she missed her well-child visit due to COVID) and then send her if school reopens, but that may change.

  • Elton May 19, 2020 (12:39 pm)

    I’ve heard mixed messages from different daycares in terms of what they’re being told (one daycare was being told that they can only have class sizes of 10, including teachers, another one seems to have no restrictions).

• Anon May 19, 2020 (10:15 am)

  Just another metric to keep in mind from UW…https://www.washington.edu/news/2020/05/18/covid-19-uw-study-reports-staggering-death-rate-in-us-among-those-infected-who-show-symptoms/

  • Lisa May 19, 2020 (12:47 pm)

    There’s no indication (that I could see) where they got their data and if that’s based on number of people tested. FAR more people have or have had the virus than is reported because testing has not been available. A headline espousing “staggering” numbers is irresponsible without more info to back it up. But I clicked on it so, well done.

    • CAM May 19, 2020 (2:50 pm)

      Lisa, this research study has stated quite clearly that they are only counting cases in which people show symptoms. If you follow the links within the above linked article it takes you to the project page and to a database which includes all the project data and likely sources for that data. In the article itself it tells you that the data is coming from data reported by specific states (so likely their Departments of Health) that had “robust” data. I didn’t look for it, but the names of the specific states are likely enumerated in the data file. It apparently breaks things down by county too within the state of Washington but it’s unclear without further reading if county level analysis is currently available for other states. 

      • Lisa May 19, 2020 (10:55 pm)

        @CAM – my point being that the number of infected is much higher than those “showing symptoms” so the rate of death isn’t necessarily “staggering” if you consider the overall infection rate. 

        • Stay well May 20, 2020 (12:21 pm)

          I see how you’re thinking. However, this particular study is looking at how deadly the virus is for those who actually get sick from the virus, in comparison to the flu. Yes, some people can carry the virus without getting sick, those cases don’t factor into how deadly this is for those who actually get sick with the virus.

          Also, the study does provide their data source. If you click on the ‘published’ hyperlink, and scroll down to the section titled ‘data’ you can find it there.

        • Billy May 21, 2020 (9:31 pm)

          Timely article: https://komonews.com/amp/news/local/state-epidemiologists-covid-19-related-deaths-likely-being-undercounted-in-waIt’s clear that covid deaths will be under counted (Not overcounted, testing has been overcounted and which is more dangerous?!) We will never have an exact number.  It’s not necessary in epidemiology. There should be no doubt that we are in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. There is a virus out there that we know little about that any of us can contract, perhaps multiple times. Check out “the media” worldwide, don’t just rely on one source or one country’s reports. We don’t know why some get better and some don’t. Underlying issues make you high risk but there are also healthy young people who have gotten it. Staying home has saved lives in our state. I’m not willing to risk my life, my children’s lives or even people I don’t agree with by not continuing to stay home and mask up in public. Remember, you could be a carrier. Fanning up doubts about our current reality is ignorant, selfish and dangerous. I applaud those who stand up to the conspiracy theorists (I know it’s exhausting). Bickering over numbers is pointless though so there’s no point in engaging.

• wondering May 19, 2020 (10:32 am)

  I am amazed someone made a fake sign like that!  Down on Alki, there hasn’t been a need for fake signs as the playgrounds at Alki Elementary and Whale Tail have been filled with people playing on the climbers, sliding down slides, swinging on swings and playing tennis for over a month.  I used to call Seattle Parks on Mondays to let them know that all their hard work had been torn down over the weekends, but I gave up several weeks ago when an actual person listened to me on the phone, and yet to this day has sent no one to clean up the caution tape all over the ground (I cleaned up Whale Tail), lock up the swings (they locked 2 of 4), lock up the tennis courts (they locked one gate but not the other) and put up more caution tape and signs to replace the ones ripped down.  If the virus can live on surfaces, then all those areas are contaminated with the many hands touching them.   Are other playgrounds filled with people everyday playing and touching the high-touch surfaces, or is it because Alki is a touristy neighborhood where people choose to jump in their cars and come down here to play while their own neighborhood playgrounds remain relatively empty and quiet?  Could people who live in other neighborhoods please chime in?  Is this issue of people refusing to respect our governor’s orders about playgrounds being closed for the duration of the stay at home order, happening everywhere elsewhere in West Seattle, as well, or are some neighborhoods complying better than others?

  • Megan May 19, 2020 (1:03 pm)

    Highland Park, Westcrest and Riverview have lots of walkers and people enjoying the open areas. Little to no kids on any of the play structures. Yellow caution tape is fluttering everywhere. 

  • Jethro Marx May 19, 2020 (3:16 pm)

    Do you ever wonder if it could be local residents (presumably your neighbors) flaunting the closures? I cannot imagine only us poorer neighborhood residents live among the occasionally overly-entitled. But then, some of us are wondering, wondering, why would you go to the park to clean up the city’s litter if you are ordered to stay at home and think the virus is being spread there? Surely the person you talked to at Seattle Parks did not ask you to get involved, did they?

  • MikeRussellFoto May 19, 2020 (4:24 pm)

    The caution tape had been torn up on the swings and exercise equipment at Hiawatha. And I think it was last weekend, I was walking through there and saw someone cleaning off the old ripped tape and replacing it with new tape. 

• Lola May 19, 2020 (2:10 pm)

  Wondering,  I can tell you that nobody is at Ercolini Park on 48th & Alaska Street as I go by it daily and the Caution tape is still up all over and not torn down.  I believe nobody is at it during the day but maybe some people walk their dogs around it?  Not sure.  It is sad that they are terrorizing Alik Whale Tale park, I use to live down there when my sons were growing up.  Spent many of days with them there.  I would bring a bag a pick up the litter to try and keep the park clean, as I knew we would be back the next day.  My kids loved playing there. 

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