30 Replies to "CORONAVIRUS: Thursday 5/28 roundup"

• Socially distanced May 28, 2020 (10:17 pm)

  Large spike in statewide number of new cases today. 

  • drm May 29, 2020 (8:44 am)

    One walk along Alki the other day could have predicted this… and notice the age groups affected.

    • Cool Rick May 29, 2020 (2:32 pm)

      King County numbers are pretty low today, 29 new cases. Also, there’s somewhere between a 5-17 day lag between exposure, symptoms developing, a positive test and then that test making it into reporting data. So crowds at Alki last weekend are almost definitely irrelevant for any data we’re seeing this week.

• gxnx May 28, 2020 (11:14 pm)

  Time to open up and move on!!There is nothing to fear but fear itself.

  • Chuck May 29, 2020 (2:04 am)

    Well, sure, that and Coronavirus.

  • AdmiralE May 29, 2020 (3:54 am)

    Amen 

  • Mark May 29, 2020 (6:58 am)

    But that is up to King Jay I.

  • Shufflerunner May 29, 2020 (9:37 am)

    And death, horrible agonizing, drowning in your own fluids death. And a lifetime of living with debilitating injuries, loss of motor function, amputations, diminished pulmonary function, reduced cardiovascular function, and spiders. But yeah, other than the rest of that just fear.  

    • Jess May 29, 2020 (1:43 pm)

      Wait, spiders? I need a better mask.

      • Xman May 29, 2020 (2:12 pm)

        Lol me too

  • KBear May 29, 2020 (10:00 am)

    I fear the willful ignorance of those who are clamoring to open up and move on. Do you understand that we don’t even know if having had the virus gives you immunity?

    • Outtahere May 29, 2020 (11:11 am)

      Having the virus does indeed provide some level of immunity. Even asymptomatic folks with Covid produce antibodies to the virus. If we did not produce antibodies, how do you expect a vaccination work? 

      • KBear May 29, 2020 (11:30 am)

        There is no vaccine, and we don’t know if there will be one. Also, some people have recovered and tested positive for the virus again. 

      • ScubaFrog May 29, 2020 (11:38 am)

        You have no evidence to support that claim.

      • KBear May 29, 2020 (11:39 am)

        And yes, we produce antibodies, but IT IS NOT KNOWN whether we become fully immune after having had the disease. Stop spreading misleading information. 

        • Um, No! May 29, 2020 (12:11 pm)

          @Kbear,   So how long do you think we should stay closed down as we are today?  What infection rate and death rate would you be comfortable with to start reopening?  An please don’t say “0” for each.   That’s impossible.    Do you think we should stayed closed until there is a vaccine?  Just curious.

        • Outtahere May 29, 2020 (1:17 pm)

          The link above should provide you with the up to date research re: immunity   The question is really how long does immunity last? Will one have partial immunity in future as virus mutates (as does the flu )There is no scientific evidence that anybody was reinfected with Covid.  The viral test can stay positive for quite a while. Yes. It is possible an effective vaccine may never be developed. Even more reason to get back to life now!  What are we waiting for?   The virus will not disapppear. This lockdown is causing very real harm to so many.  Every Single Day Financiall, Physical and Emotional. Those who are vulnerable can make the decision to shield themselves as they see fit. Over 60 percent of Covid deaths in Washington  have been in nursing homes. That is where attention and resources should have been focused all along   We knew this from the beginning. The young and healthy are not the targets of this virus  (The flu, on the other hand, can target young and healthy)  Kids should be back in school and summer camp  

    • Outtahere May 29, 2020 (11:39 am)

      https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/early-coronavirus-immunity-data-fuel-promise-for-a-vaccine/

• N May 29, 2020 (6:48 am)

  I’m a long term care administrator. Would love to know who is physically going to administer the test? We have one nurse , 100 residents , 50 employees. 

• Bronson May 29, 2020 (7:05 am)

  So basically, we have 8,000 total positive cases out of 2.2M people in King county, meaning a whopping 0.003% of the population of King County had the virus (that we know of). Social distancing has worked, but it is time to let the businesses re-open and police their patrons. We all know what to do now, so let’s move into Phase 2. 

  • ScubaFrog May 29, 2020 (11:44 am)

    Virologists say it’s likely far far more (and they’re not politicians).  And at even 50 cases per day (average now) per day in King County, opening could be disastrous.  No one’s keeping you home, or has taken away your freedom.  States that have opened prematurely have seen a massive spike, Washington voted for and elected a responsible governor who won’t allow that.  Given how we started out in the pandemic- perhaps you’ve already forgotten –  I’m so grateful that he’s being cautious.

    • Um, No! May 29, 2020 (12:06 pm)

      Not all states that are reopening  have seen much in the way of increases and not sure I would characterize any of the increases as “massive”.  Where are you getting this from?  Florida & Georgia which were among the first to reopen has been pretty much flat.   Washington has been reopening and we haven’t seen “massive” spikes to date.  And if actual positive cases are “likely far far more” as you mentioned,   that just means the actual death rate is even lower.   It also likely means the asymptomatic rate is greater as well.  These are good things!   IMO, we need to start opening up in King County.  I think the other counties in this state and other states in general have so far proven it can be done.

    • Bronson May 29, 2020 (12:14 pm)

      Actually, there hasn’t been a “massive” spike in the states that have re-opened. There has been a significant increase in testing and the “spikes” in Georgia and Texas are largely due to those increased testing efforts and other “catch-up” data dumps, according to officials in both states. I, too, voted for Inslee, but I am not willing to refrain from criticizing him when he is moving goalposts and setting unattainable numbers of 10 new cases per 100,000 people. That will never happen. My memory is fine, we started off bad basically because a number of nursing homes had outbreaks. Perhaps you have forgotten that the entire reason to shelter in place was to flatten the curve. Mission accomplished. They sent home the temporary field hospital at the CenturyLink within a week or so of setting it up. His actions are going to bankrupt the very hospitals he was trying to save. Then where will we be?Maybe you are fine yielding all of your freedom of movement/assembly to the government, but I am not, and I trust that our local businesses will put into place the necessary precautions to keep us as safe as possible while in their establishments. The rest is on us. We know to wear a mask indoors, wash hands frequently, etc. 

    • Ron Swanson May 29, 2020 (12:42 pm)

      Colorado opened early and must be seeing a “massive spike” then? Hmm, let’s check the headline in today’s Denver Post:

      ---

      New COVID-19 hospitalizations in Colorado hit lowest point since tracking began

    • Outtahere May 29, 2020 (1:00 pm)

      No one has kept you home or has taken away your freedom? Are you serious. Our Bill of rights has been thrown out the door by this governer in his continued overreaction to Covid-19. How about the freedom to work and make money to support you family? To keep your business alive because the governor has chosen to close yours while Target and Big Box Stores and Home Depot are essential. Mandates were not based on which businesses are “safe” to open.The freedom to be with family and friends?   To go to school and graduate? Our kids have a greater chance of being killed by lightening strike than Covid. The freedom to assemble. Attend religious services?Freedom  to go to the dentist to maintain your dental health. To have your hip replacement surgery? And most other medical procedures.  While our hospitals remain mostly empty and doctors and nurses are furloughed. You are free to make the choice to shield yourself at home.  No one has taken that freedom away from you. And none of Inslees mandates helped out all those folks who died in nursing homes.  Which ends up being around 2/3 of Covid deaths. 40 million Americans have lost thier jobs because of politicians like Inslee. Not the virus.  But their reaction to it.  And this fear mongering has resulted in folks with MI and strike not going to the ER to get treatment. And  75,000 deaths of despair are estimated to result. And look at Sweden. Kids from preschool to age 16 continued to go to school.  And guess what. The kids are all right!   Kids are not the target of this virus.  Unlike the flu. And there is no evidence that they transmit the virus either. Inslee’s mandates were never based on science or data.  Saying so, does not make it so. He locked down the healthy and those in whom the virus is overwhelmingly benign, and ignored the nursing homes. Because that’s what everyone else was doing.   The very people who needed protection were massacred by this virus.Continued  closure of our parks and  parking lots is asinine.  The virus is spread through close contact. Not out in the open air.  Inslee is a cowardly, incompetent governor whose policies have harmed many more than they have helped.   I am bewildered and saddened  that folks like you heap praise upon him and so willingly give up your constitutional freedoms and try to abrogate the freedoms of others in thier pursuit of life, health and happiness 

      • heartless May 29, 2020 (7:46 pm)

        “Kids are not the target of this virus.  Unlike the flu. And there is no evidence that they transmit the virus either.”

        That seems to be untrue.  Maybe you should have just suggested children are not seen as major spreaders.  Anyway, as to whether or not children CAN transmit it, the consensus seems to be yes.

        “Two new studies offer compelling evidence that children can transmit the virus. Neither proved it, but the evidence was strong enough to suggest that schools should be kept closed for now, many epidemiologists who were not involved in the research said.”
        NY Times, May 5 2020  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/health/coronavirus-children-transmission-school.html

• anonyme May 29, 2020 (1:08 pm)

  Me, too Scubafrog.  Some of the rabid politicos on here don’t seem to want to acknowledge that sustained closures are the worst thing for Inslee politically – he’s doing it because it’s necessary and driven by scientific fact, and it would be irresponsible and immoral to do otherwise.  That’s not saying the consequences aren’t dire for some, but not as dire as death.  It’s clear a lot of people don’t know the first thing about sacrifice, endurance, or being conscious of anything outside the very limited sphere of their own craniums.

  • Outtahere May 29, 2020 (2:01 pm)

    We know that prolonged lockdown of the entire population has delayed cancer treatments and has made people with serious disease like heart attacks avoid going to the hospital. It is leading hospital systems to furlough and lay off personnel, it is devastating mental health, it is increasing domestic violence and child abuse, and it has added around 40 million new people to the ranks of the unemployed in the United States alone. Many of these people will lose health insurance, putting them at further risk of declining health and economic distress. Prolonged unemployment is estimated to lead to an extra 75,000 deaths of despairin the United States alone over the coming decade. At a global level, disruption has increased the number of people at risk of starvation to more than a billion, suspension of mass vaccination campaigns is posing a threat of resurgence of infectious diseases that kill children, modeling suggests an excess of 1.4 million deaths from tuberculosis by 2025, and a doubling of the death toll from malariain 2020 is expected compared with 2018. All of these impacts matter, too. Policymakers must consider the real harms to real peopleof restrictive policies. 

  • Cool Rick May 29, 2020 (2:29 pm)

    Can you please link me to where “scientific fact” states that we should remain almost completely shut down despite hospitals in King County being significantly below capacity and a new case rate of approx 48/day over the past 2 weeks in a county with around 2.3M people? That doesn’t even get into the risk stratification of both serious illness and death from COVID, the significant cost of the shutdown itself, etc. Thanks in advance.

• WSB May 29, 2020 (2:00 pm)

  A note: The governor’s next briefing is at 2:30 pm. King County has announced a “next steps” briefing for shortly after the governor, likely 3:30-ish. We will carry both live. If you just want to watch the streams directly, the governor will be at:
  https://www.tvw.org/watch/?clientID=9375922947&eventID=2020051096

  The KC briefing will be at:
  https://vimeo.com/424137212

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