CORONAVIRUS: Monday 7/6 roundup

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news

We start tonight’s roundup with the statistics:

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

*11,140 people have tested positive, 126 more than yesterday

*591 people have died, 1 more than yesterday

*1,623 people have been hospitalized, 7 more than yesterday

*190,005 people have been tested, 2,358 more than yesterday

One week ago, the totals were 10,069 /586/1,587/161,398.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: See them – nation by nation – here.

STATE RECORD: The governor tweeted that this was the first day during the epidemic that our state has recorded more than 1,000 new cases in one day.

CITY TAX: The first year of revenue from the “JumpStart” business tax passed by the City Council today is supposed to go to COVID-19 relief. The tax on high earners, sponsored by West Seattle-residing citywide Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda (with 4 co-sponsors including District 1 Councilmember Lisa Herbold), is explained in this Seattle Times report. All the documents are here.

NEED FOOD? Food Lifeline has announced three nearby chances this week for you to drive up or walk up and get boxes of free food:

Food Lifeline – 815 South 96th Street
 Wednesday, July 8, at 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
 Friday, July 10, 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Century Link Field – North Parking Lot
 Thursday, July 9, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

NEED SUPPORT FOR STRESS? Just launched – Washington Listens:

In response to COVID-19, Washington has launched Washington Listens, a support program and phone line to help people manage elevated levels of stress due to the pandemic.

People who call the Washington Listens support line will speak with a support specialist and get connected to community resources in their area. The program is anonymous.

…The Washington Listens support line is 1-833-681-0211. It is available from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. TTY and language access services are available by using 7-1-1 or their preferred method….

Resources and self-help tips are available on walistens.org.

GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!

psps July 6, 2020 (11:32 pm)

So, thanks to the foolish “rush to reopen,” it looks like the three months of hardship has been thrown away, only to have to be done all over again. Well, that is unless you buy on to the new and improved “learn to live with it” story line soon to be emanating from the reality show in the white house. In that case, you’ll get exercise jumping over the corpses.

Smittytheclown July 7, 2020 (2:50 am)

Unless you propose locking down until there is a vaccine there is going to be an uptick in cases. As long as deaths don’t follow (they haven’t nationally – yet) then we have to deal with it. The death rate for people under 70 matches seasonal flu. Keep the elderly safe and let’s get back to work. Easier said then done, I realize.
- Hank L July 7, 2020 (8:14 am)
  
  Why did you choose to post the chart that stops two weeks ago Smitty? Trying to hide something?
  - M July 7, 2020 (9:40 am)
    
    King County appears to only update their charts weekly. I have noticed the last several days the graphs continue to go only through June 29th
  - AMD July 7, 2020 (10:11 am)
    
    The site he’s posting from updates daily. The chart is also showing US data, not local data, so the lag from King County wouldn’t make a noticeable difference in the particular chart he’s choosing to spam COVID threads with. Basically, he wants us to lock elderly people up and not let them have any contact with younger people who should all go back to work immediately (risk of permanent health issues be damned). He also wants us to do some kind of Jedi mind trick to forget that pregnant people, cancer patients, and people with other immune deficiencies exist, that they are mostly not old, and that these folks also interact with, and are exposed to the people he thinks should be risking life long health challenges (because as long as you’re alive at the end, failing organs and amputations are “successes” and the economy is more important than your kidneys). So he found a chart that shows a downward trajectory and spams it at every possible opportunity to justify these points of view.
    - Stay well July 7, 2020 (1:18 pm)
      
      ‘…and the economy is more important than your kidneys…’
      
      … and probably also not considering that the economy will also be impacted by rampant illness and deaths, possibly more so, than by just having some things closed for a period.
    - WS REZ July 7, 2020 (2:10 pm)
      
      @AMD THANK YOU FOR THIS. So many young people also have underlying health conditions that they had no idea about. Smitty doesn’t mind killing them off, too, as long as the economy is doing well. how sad. the economy cant do well when people keep dying at alarming rates.
  - Smittytheclown July 7, 2020 (10:11 am)
    
    https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/ithe above goes through July 6. Formatting. Updated daily. Could very well tick up over the next few weeks but nowhere near the hysteria we are hearing in “cases”.
- Anne July 7, 2020 (8:50 am)
  
  Yes-easier said than done- because it’s not just elderly- there are many people of all ages with compromised immune systems-health issues-(know anyone who has had cancer, pneumonia?) that make them vulnerable. Last week there was a report that cautioned pregnant women-& now it seems like more in younger age groups are contracting virus -they aren’t dying-but could be bringing it back to those vulnerable folks. Also hearing that while not dying -many are taking longer to recover & can have serious -lingering side effects. We are older-one of us is comprised-so we are extremely careful about where we go, who we are in contact with.The healthy one of us does all the shopping -as infrequently as possible-we wear masks, use sanitizer, wash hands a lot. So we control as much as in our power- but all you need do is look at the news to see that many can’t/won’t do even the simplest thing – like wearing a mask -so it’s fingers crossed that somehow we won’t come into contact with one of those people. One more point-once again we’re seeing health care workers & hospitals becoming overwhelmed- that’s a huge problem. We were doing well- so rules were loosened-so what did folks do? took advantage-dismissed precautions & here we are —again.
- Stay well July 7, 2020 (10:20 am)
  
  ‘Unless you propose locking down until there is a vaccine there is going to be an uptick in cases.’
  
  Other countries are managing to keep their curve down, as they move forward, after their initial ‘shut downs.’
  - Smittytheclown July 7, 2020 (10:30 am)
    
    The point was to flatten the curve and push out cases over a longer period of time. That is exactly what Florida and Texas did. States like NY did not flatten the curve which is why they have 10x the deaths of a similarly populated states like Florida and Texas. Florida flattened the curve and saved lives as a result and now they are being criticized for it. It’s bizarre.
    - WS RES July 7, 2020 (2:13 pm)
      
      Wow. Why would you ever look at how FL and TX handled things and think, wow they did a great job.
    - Smittytheclown July 7, 2020 (5:26 pm)
      
      Really? Looking at deaths compared to NY and NJ it’s not even close. Despite the media bashing they did exactly what they were supposed to do. Flatten the curve and push the cases forward. The media hate FL and TX for obvious reasons that have nothing to do with actual data.
  - Andy July 8, 2020 (7:57 am)
    
    I’m not saying “throw out the data” or anything, but one of these things is not like the others. Europe is a continent. I always wonder (probably naively) whether things like that are done out of stupidity or if they are intentional. Would the chart tell a different story if the countries of Europe were broken out and represented? I have no dog in the fight, so I don’t care. It wouldn’t change our numbers (or anyone else’s). It’s just the kind of thing that I find interesting.
Graciano July 7, 2020 (4:51 am)

We’re damned if we do and we’re damed if we don’t…
Emy July 7, 2020 (4:55 am)

Yep Kanye2020 YE
Westseattle I guess July 7, 2020 (6:39 am)

Well considering the death toll is significantly lower I don’t think we will be jumping over corpses.
- Anne July 7, 2020 (9:03 am)
  
  Sheesh-what a viewpoint -but how about we do whatever is necessary to keep it that way. We have more testing positive-that have the potential of infecting others . We do have folks that are sick & while not dying , may have long lasting effects from the virus, & once again we’re seeing health care systems/workers in crisis.

22blades July 7, 2020 (5:28 am)

A vacuum of leadership, governance of vanity & utter lack of competence. The cocktail of the worst “leaders”.

HS July 7, 2020 (8:02 am)

Washington Listens is cool. Very much needed at this time.

Greg Sprinkles July 7, 2020 (9:55 am)

Not that it really matters because I’m sure the tax will be indirectly passed on to employees, but it’s actually an employer payroll tax. Not a tax on employees/earners themselves. Seems questionable to pass a tax on jobs, one of the largest taxes the city of Seattle has ever seen, during a global pandemic that is causing undue stress on most employers and also calls into question the future of large office footprints in downtown areas.

Restaurant Worker July 7, 2020 (11:15 am)

WSB, there are now 6 confirmed covid-19 cases among staff at Duke’s. They have not shut down in order to prevent any further spread among their staff. This should be reported.

ScubaFrog July 7, 2020 (11:29 am)

Close the state back up. Saving lives > Dow Jones. Trump’s spent 8-10 trillion in 3 years, and they’re debating a many-trillion dollar budget for trump re the military? It’s time to divert that money wholly to the people who’re out of work and will be, since trump and the GOP completely failed to address the pandemic even though they were briefed months in advance. Thus, closing the country is the only answer V spending trillions on “defense” (as Trump sends our soldiers to war only to have his friend putin put bounties on them) .

Smittytheclown July 7, 2020 (2:23 pm)

Aint going to happen. States like Texas and Florida flattened the curve and pushed out cases months further than say, New York. And are somehow being vilified for it. The result is 3,500 deaths rather than the 30,000 New York saw because they had such a huge spike early. That was the point. Flatten the curve does not mean “eliminate” the curve. Same number of cases but spread out so we can handle the volume and hopefully have some therapeutics developed.
- Gwen July 7, 2020 (6:14 pm)
  
  Oh my goodness, Miami hospitals are nearly at capacity and they’re having to close restaurants again. https://apnews.com/edb298e959d070aea5851d3bd1d8ffbdAnd…oh wow, Texas ICUs are also NEARLY at capacity and…whoa. They’re having to ROLL BACK their opening, closing bars and restaurants! https://www.newsweek.com/icu-beds-running-out-5-texas-regions-covid-19-cases-pass-200000-1515992It’s like MAYBE you don’t actually know what you’re talking about, but choose to scream angrily into the clouds regardless.
  - Smittytheclown July 7, 2020 (7:31 pm)
    
    Really?

Mj July 7, 2020 (11:39 am)

Scuba Frog – closing the State up will not save one life, it may reduce the premature death of some people but the grim reaper will eventually get everyone.

Gwen July 7, 2020 (5:59 pm)

“oh well, everyone will die anyway” is a really crappy argument to make because you want to return to your luxuries, MJ.
heartless July 7, 2020 (10:29 pm)

MJ, really?

You belittle those suffering and dying by pointing out that eventually everyone will die?

You are much better than this, and I know you didn’t mean it, but really…

C July 7, 2020 (1:21 pm)

I see the tweet by the governor referencing yesterday being first time with 1000 cases. I’m looking for the data on how that breaks out including number of tests / number of positives / negatives / percent positive / etc. and cannot find it. Can anyone point me to a source?

C July 7, 2020 (4:10 pm)

upon doing some additional poking around, it looks like the 1000 cases is not 1000 cases in one day. For context, WA Health Dept. notes this is not a one-day total, but represents a backlog in reporting from the holiday weekend. 1000 cases over a three day weekend is much different than 1000 cases in one day. When the dashboard / state data finally updates fully what the true numbers are will be clear.
- WSB July 7, 2020 (4:32 pm)
  
  The dashboard on the state site does not indicate any sort of lag. They update at end of night. End of July 5th, 1,081 new cases. End of July 4th, 650 new cases. End of July 3rd, 348 new cases. End of July 2nd, 754. End of July 1st, 713. Those are the numbers of new positive results REPORTED BY THE DOH ON THAT SITE in one day, and so over the long term, you have a trend. Mouse over the line on that graph to see each day, and the trend is clear, whatever you want to blame it on or not blame it on.
  - C July 7, 2020 (5:05 pm)
    
    First, I’m not trying to blame or not blame it on anything. I just want to see the data. You confirmed that I was looking in the right place but I was viewing the dashboard in Firefox and for some reason the mouse over on the graph only showed results up to 6/30. Just opened in Chrome and I see the counts now. As reported that is certainly a large one day spike. Still don’t see total number of tests performed for last several days. Possibly I just have to wait for final testing data for that. Thanks for your assistance.
    - Gwen July 7, 2020 (5:57 pm)
      
      Yep, according to Seattle Times and the DOH spokesperson, there was a backlog due to the long weekend/festivities. The average over the 4 days had been around 711 (which is still atrociously high compared to where we were two weeks ago). https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/coronavirus-daily-news-updates-july-6-what-to-know-today-about-covid-19-in-the-seattle-area-washington-state-and-the-world/#numbers

Mj July 7, 2020 (10:22 pm)

Gwen – I was correcting ScubaFrog’s statement. And what luxury is being trapped in the north end of WS with no out in sight. My neighbors tried to sell and had zero offers. The King County Assessor has failed to acknowledge the adverse impact of the bridge closure. The virus, the bridge, the cratering economy and no way to sell without taking a big cut in value. So what luxury are we talking about Gwen?

WSB July 7, 2020 (10:46 pm)

No, the county assessor has not “failed to acknowledge.” We’ve had this discussion before. Assessments you get in one year are based on what your property was valued at on January 1st of the PREVIOUS year, which also includes some averaging of the years before that. IF the bridge affects property values negatively, you’ll see that in your 2022 bill.