CORONAVIRUS: Tuesday 5/26 roundup

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news

Here’s the post-holiday-weekend roundup of local virus-crisis news:

NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Public Health daily-summary dashboard:

*7,896 people have tested positive, up 17 from yesterday

*544 people have died, up 2 from yesterday

One week ago, those totals were 7,582 and 529.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them here.

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: Find them here.

GOVERNOR SPEAKS TOMORROW: All eyes are on Olympia, with five days now left until the stay-home order’s expiration date. Gov. Inslee plans a media briefing at 2:30 pm tomorrow, described only as “an update on the state’s COVID-19 response.” It’ll be streamed here; we’ll carry it live too.

OUTDOOR-RECREATION CLARIFICATION: A memo from the governor today clarified Phase 1 (in which King County remains) and Phase 2 for these types of outdoor recreation:

– Staffed outdoor tennis facilities public and private
– Guided ATV, paddle sports, and horseback riding
– Guided fishing
– Go-cart tracks, ORV/motocross facilities, and participant-only motorsports
– Gondolas
– Zoos

HEALTH AUTHORITIES’ BRIEFING: State and county health officers have been offering regular media briefings by phone; you can listen to the audio for today’s briefing by going here. Topics included breakdowns of yet more newly public data.

PREMIUM PAY FOR GIG WORKERS … during the pandemic? That’s the proposal from City Councilmembers Lisa Herbold and Andrew Lewis.

ANTHEMIC IN THE PANDEMIC: The band Alcohol Funnycar released its first new song in 24 years – a music video with some West Seattle and White Center locales, and an anthemic-in-the-pandemic theme:

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

JM May 26, 2020 (10:13 pm)

5/26 @4:00 PM: Alki outside Starbucks-I was walking on Alki wearing my mask and when I stepped off the side walk to let someone pass, a guy popped his head out of the passenger side window of a passing white SUV and sneezed at me on purpose and looked back laughing before speeding off Eastbound. i was only a foot apart at the parking space behind the parked Metro Bus in front of Starbucks. I was too stunned not expecting such unkind action from a passing Vehicle when most of the people were maintaining social distance.Warning to Alki walkers: please be aware of such drivers and passing cars.

Felix May 27, 2020 (5:11 pm)

I don’t believe you.

MrsT May 26, 2020 (10:38 pm)

Thank you Lisa Herbold and Andrew Lewis for your proposal. It is a step in the right direction to help us weather this pandemic. Hopefully the other members of the city council has the courage to do the right thing. Let this type of advocacy for decency become the norm in our community. Maybe our example of taking care of each other could be an example for the rest of the country.

West Seattle since 1979 May 26, 2020 (11:15 pm)

Hear, hear!
WS Guy May 27, 2020 (1:56 am)

Why stop there? Herbold should just specify what every profession is to be paid. It’s only fair that the Council decide what our work is worth.

Thom May 27, 2020 (9:10 am)

♪♫This year’s gonna last forever…♫♪ Good to hear Ben and the guys again after all this time. Thanks for including that video!

annaeileen May 27, 2020 (10:15 am)

the video was awesome! Thanks for including it. How I miss all of those venues.

RedBull May 27, 2020 (10:51 am)

Thank you, Lisa. I too agree the people delivering food from my restaurant should be getting an extra $5 per order whilst my employer continues to pay me the bare minimum pre-covid-19 rate and make me provide my own PPE out of pocket with no reimbursement. I encourage everyone who is “supporting their neighborhood” to inquire more about how the operations are being run and how the employees are being treated.