Don’t get complacent, warns the governor, and that tops our nightly roundup:
NOT OVER YET: First the state Health Department reported this:
Today the Washington State Department of Health released the latest statewide situation report, which shows COVID-19 transmission continued to increase in eastern Washington as of the end of May, with a possible uptick in western Washington as well. There are still significant differences in transmission from county to county.
The situation in eastern Washington is of greatest concern, particularly in Benton, Franklin, Spokane and Yakima counties. The report estimates cases and deaths in these counties will soon increase substantially if COVID-19 continues to spread at current levels. By population, these counties are in a comparable position to King County at its peak in March. They may require similar efforts to expand hospital capacity and testing, protect the people at highest risk and increase physical distancing.
Governor Inslee subsequently released a statement including:
Washingtonians have done the hard work to flatten the curve on COVID-19 and we know this has been tremendously difficult for families, businesses and communities over the past few months. But today’s report shows us there is still reason for strong concern in parts of our state. The report estimates cases and deaths will soon increase substantially if COVID-19 continues to spread at current levels. …
This is not the time to give up on efforts to protect ourselves, our families and our communities. We are still in the middle of a pandemic that is continuing to infect and kill Washingtonians.
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: As for how we’re doing … here are the numbers from Public Health‘s daily-summary dashboard:
*8,700 people have tested positive, 56 more than yesterday
*574 people have died, 3 more than yesterday
*1,518 people have been hospitalized, 1 more than yesterday
*117,097 people have been tested, 2,081 more than yesterday
One week ago, the cases/deaths were 8,422/566.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: More than 7.7 million people have tested positive. Most cases: U.S., Brazil, Russia, India, United Kingdom. See the breakdown, nation by nation, here.
SO FAR, NO PROBLEM FROM PROTESTS: Noticed this tonight on the city webpage about ongoing free testing: “To our knowledge and based on volunteered information, there is no evidence so far of people testing positive for COVID-19 from attending protests in Seattle.”
MORE ON THE CITY-PARK CHANGES: In case you missed last night’s quick mention, we published a breakdown today.
AT THE GROCERY STORES: A few changes of note in our (almost-) weekly update.
FARMERS’ MARKET UPDATES: The organization that operates the West Seattle Farmers’ Market reopened another of its markets this week, Columbia City (Wednesdays). Also, it’s launched a new website. Meantime, here’s the West Seattle vendor list for tomorrow – market entrance is still at California/Alaska, with the line going eastbound on Alaska if needed.
GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!
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