CORONAVIRUS: Tuesday 6/30 roundup

On this last night of the fourth full calendar month of the pandemic, here are the local toplines:

NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: Here’s the daily summary from Public Health, with cumulative totals:

*10,196 people have tested positive, up 127 from yesterday

*586 people have died, unchanged for a fourth day

*1,589 people have been hospitalized, up 2 from yesterday

*167,270 people have been tested, up 5,872 from yesterday

One week ago, those totals were 9,369/584/1,550/147,898.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them here.

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: Find them here.

CITY LAUNCHING ‘EDUCATION AND OUTREACH TEAM’: The city says this new team will check out businesses accused of not following the face-covering policy. This is in the middle of a long news release addressing various virus-related topics:

The Department of Finance and Administrative Services’ Consumer Protection Division will lead education and outreach to businesses and restaurants that are reported to be out of compliance with the Governor’s mandate to wear a facial covering in indoor and outdoor public spaces. Outreach to these businesses and restaurants will focus on education. Businesses that do not enforce the facial covering mandate can be reported to the City’s Customer Service Bureau at 206-684-2489 (CITY).

In the coming days, FAS will also be issuing a Director’s Rule to give the Consumer Protection team enforcement authority over businesses that violate the mandate. Violation of the statewide order is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail and up to a $100 fine. Businesses that routinely violate the order also face losing their City of Seattle business license.

PANDEMIC-AFFECTED BUSINESSES: Meantime, the pandemic continues to affect local businesses. Two are temporarily closed: Duke’s on Alki reports a second employee has tested positive; Bank of America says its Junction branch is short-staffed.

FERRY SYSTEM’S PANDEMIC PAIN … was extensively discussed during an online public meeting we covered tonight.

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

15 Replies to "CORONAVIRUS: Tuesday 6/30 roundup"

  • Lin June 30, 2020 (11:17 pm)

    I see a different deaths number for King county on the State’s dashboard. 610. Do we know why they’re different? 

  • Perspective shift July 1, 2020 (7:28 am)

    https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/COVID19/index.htmI wish the media would give more light to the decline in fatal cases. And my heart is heavy for the many families who did not get to mourn the loss of their loved one who died and became this statistic.Catching COVID does not have to be a death sentence! We’re stigmatizing being sick. I wonder how many folks are afraid to share that they had COVID and recovered? If you knew someone had COVID, would you jump back in fear, or have compassion for them? Can you see the amazing ability of a body to heal? Now, we don’t always heal, and our bodies will eventually fail, but the body is impressively resilient! Consider a broken leg, you go in to the doctor to have them set the bone and put it in a cast (mechanism), and then you wear a cast for 4-6 weeks while your body does it’s thing (vitalism). Thank you doctor for setting that bone AND thank you body for repairing itself. Perspective shift: the doctor took an hour to set the bone back in place while the body repaired itself over the next month plus. And if the bone wasn’t set, your body will heal the bone out of place. Because our bodies are awesome! Let’s reflect on how much weight we are putting in the mechanism and perhaps undervaluing the vitalism of the body. And if you have recovered from COVID, start sharing your story with friends and family! Your story has power to change hearts and give hope to the anxious. COVID represents the loss of loved ones, the loss of jobs, loneliness and isolation, and asking ourself what would happen if I died. That’s a tough thought, to fixate on death day in and day out! I don’t think our minds were built for that. Let’s unplug, make the phone calls, visit one another, and start rebuilding the relationships that have been brutally disrupted. 

    • Alternative Perspective July 1, 2020 (12:18 pm)

      I don’t think it’s one or the other–you can both have compassion for those who have been ill, and exercise caution to make sure you don’t catch and spread it. As someone who’s had a couple non-preventable medical “surprises,” I’d say our bodies are neither our enemies nor our allies, they simply are. Giving situations due diligence (subjective) is the best we can do, and then still there are no guarantees.

    • AMD July 1, 2020 (1:16 pm)

      I do know someone who had COVID and he has kidney damage that’s likely permanent.  Wear you masks, people.  It’s not a huge thing to ask.  COVID is no small thing, even for those who survive. 

    • Stay well July 1, 2020 (2:55 pm)

      Keep in mind that current death numbers of today is the result of previous weeks infection and hospitalization rates.

      Now that we are seeing spikes in infection rates and hospitalizations, that unfortunately means there could be more deaths in upcoming weeks. Hopefully hospital capability and treatment has improved for severe cases and more will be able to recover now.

      The current spikes in infection and hospitalization is concerning. If this takes off like wildfire, many will lose their wellness, and then the economy will really be in trouble.

      Why would anyone be afraid to share if they’ve had covid and recovered from it? Also, having concern for yourself and others during a pandemic isn’t lacking compassion. I’m not sure I understand your thinking there. If

      Yes the body does have an amazing capacity to heal, in many ways. However, the body doesn’t always heal and recover, from every illness and injury. And we have learned that this virus is particularly serious.

      One way to have compassion for others at this time is to recognize people are vulnerable to this virus and to respect others concerns, also trying to do your part to help reduce transmission, helping to keep others well is compassionate. 

      Even though the body has the capacity to heal in many ways, that doesn’t mean you would gamble with stepping in front of a speeding car. Similarly, we shouldn’t put ourself in harms way of this virus.

      People cope with things in different ways. Some prefer to look closely at things and understand them and discuss the details, to feel they can take informed actions in a crisis, and others would prefer to look away and deny the seriousness and downplay it because that is easier to accept and cope with, it’s a seeming avoidance of anxiety.

      I agree it would be good to hear of folks experience with C19 If you’ve had it and recovered, had it and haven’t recovered fully, think you’ve had it but test came back negative, or know anyone who has been touched by this, please consider sharing.

    • alki_2008 July 1, 2020 (3:29 pm)

      I wish people that see lower death rates give more consideration to how surviving through Covid doesn’t mean “no big deal, all better now” – just because someone doesn’t die from Covid does not mean they are back-to-normal and doing just fine. There can be lingering effects, not just from the disease itself, but also from the treatments used to avoid dying from the disease. Too bad there isn’t another category between “recovered” and “death” that is reported – one that calls out how someone can no longer be infected, but still affected.

    • Stay well July 1, 2020 (4:19 pm)

      Thanks for sharing your perspective, and concern for disrupted relationships, I hear you, that is of concern to me too.

      Regarding current death toll numbers, keep in mind these numbers of today are the result of previous weeks infection and hospitalization rates.

      Now that we are seeing spikes in infection rates and hospitalizations, that unfortunately means there could be more deaths in upcoming weeks, but hopefully hospital capability and treatment has improved for severe cases and more will be able to recover now.

      The current spikes in infection and hospitalization is concerning though. If this takes off like wildfire, many will lose their wellness, and the economy could really be in trouble.

      I’m not sure I can see why anyone would be afraid to share if they’ve had covid and recovered from it? Also, having concern for yourself and others during a pandemic isn’t lacking compassion… not sure I follow your thinking here.

      Yes the body does have an amazing capacity to heal, in many ways. However, the body doesn’t always heal and recover, from every illness and injury. And we have learned that this virus is particularly serious.

      One way to have compassion for others at this time is to recognize people are vulnerable to this virus and to respect others concerns, also trying to do your part to help reduce transmission, helping to keep others well is compassionate.

      I agree it would be good to hear of folks experience with C19 If you’ve had it and recovered, had it and haven’t recovered fully, think you’ve had it but test came back negative, or know anyone who has been touched by this, please consider sharing.

  • J July 1, 2020 (8:50 am)

    So, it’s the end of June. I wonder if we are going to hear about the results from the effort to test all staff and residents of care facilities here in Washington. I haven’t heard a peep about it since it’s announcement. Here is an article in the Wall Street Journal that shows in data what likely has been happening instead of testing. https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-pandemic-led-to-surge-in-alzheimers-deaths-11593345601 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/coronavirus-pandemic-led-to-surge-in-alzheimers-deaths-11593345601

  • Anna July 1, 2020 (12:39 pm)

    Thank you for your post Perspective shift! This is a good reminder. I’ve been getting back on the news train, and it’s not healthy. Our bodies are resilient!

    • buttercup July 1, 2020 (6:16 pm)

      So glad that there is a team who will actively investigate claim of businesses not complying with the mask mandate. Safeway stores particularly refuse to endorse masks other than a sign on door. Many people not wearing masks and nothing happens. Spoke with manager at Roxburyvstore and he claims staff will not do anything and he is following Safeway headquarters.  So much for law. I refuse to shop at a store that does not respect our state law nor the health of our citizens. I also stopped at Burger Boss to grab a burger on Sunday evening and their cook was leaning over the grill , making burgers with no mask on. Ick!!! Won’t be eating there ever again.

  • StayHomeandMaskforyourfriends July 1, 2020 (12:51 pm)

    It takes a month on average to die from COVID-19. Our deaths are at a low now because our number of cases one month ago were declining. This rise in cases over the last 1-2 weeks will result in an increase in hospitalizations in 2 more weeks, then the deaths will increase four weeks from now. The deaths lag since it takes a while to succumb. The low deaths this week indicate that a month ago we were doing a really good job of keeping the number of infections low. Check the death curve on Aug 1 or Aug 6. It will not look like today. 

    • Greg Sprinkles July 1, 2020 (1:59 pm)

      You can’t just make an assumption that deaths will rise in conjunction with case numbers rising. For starters, part of the rise in case numbers is due to increased testing. Also, if the distribution of case numbers is skewing younger in King County similar to how it is in other states, then hospitalization and death rates should see significant decreases. The CDC has estimated hospitalization and death rates stratified by age. The odds of people under 65 dying from COVID are very low per their estimates:

      https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/planning-scenarios.html

    • AMD July 1, 2020 (5:47 pm)

      A lot of the data trackers aren’t expecting as much of a spike in deaths with this surge of cases because the people getting it this time are mostly much younger and more likely to survive.  Frankly, though, IT DOESN’T MATTER.  Infections are bad in and of themselves.  Most people will fully recover from car accidents too, does that mean we don’t need speed limits or seat belts?  The idea that we should not treat COVID seriously unless the right number of people are dying is asinine as it is uncaring.  I really don’t understand the desire to downplay people’s suffering.

  • Stay well July 1, 2020 (3:17 pm)

    Positive cases are on the rise and not just because of more testing.

    The percentage of positive rates has been increasing.

    I wish the message from our government was more consistent and less confusing for everyone.

    https://www.factcheck.org/2020/06/trump-falsely-says-covid-19-surge-only-due-to-testing-misleads-on-deaths/

  • 22blades July 1, 2020 (6:03 pm)

    Put    your    mask    on.     While you’re at it, please don’t use those construction masks that have the valve that blows out unfiltered exhaled air.

Sorry, comment time is over.