CORONAVIRUS: Thursday 7/16 roundup

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news

More words of warning from the governor, as we start tonight’s roundup:

ANOTHER STAY-HOME ORDER? Gov. Inslee says that’s a possibility if the growing outbreak doesn’t get under control: “We’re going in the wrong direction.” His words of warning were part of a media briefing with Secretary of Health John Wiesman this afternoon; you can watch the video here. he governor announced some new steps to take effect Monday – a reduced limit for gatherings in Phase 3 counties, and a statewide ban on live entertainment, outdoor as well as indoor.

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

*12,592 people have tested positive, up 239 from yesterday

*621 people have died, up 1 from yesterday

*1,750 people have been hospitalized, up 19 from yesterday

*227,182 people have been tested, up 5,428 from yesterday

One week ago, those totals were 11,486/602/1,662/198,710.

ANOTHER LOCAL CARE-FACILITY DEATH: The weekly update of the King County dashboard for long-term-care facilities says Providence Mount St. Vincent has had one more death, now 7 total. (We noted last night that the toll for that zip code, 98126, had risen by 1.)

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them, county by county, on the state Department of Health page,.

CAVEAT ON THOSE STATEWIDE NUMBERS: For those who watch closely – the DOH had this media advisory:

Today’s increase of 1,266 new cases includes a backlog of about 300 cases from Yakima County. Despite the backlog, this increase suggests that community spread is accelerating. DOH is also reporting an increase of 115 hospitalizations today. This reflects a backlog following the agency’s data migration from last weekend. The 7-day average counts indicate hospitalization numbers continue to increase as well.

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

WEST SEATTLE TESTING TOMORROW: Weekly reminder – Friday is the weekly drive-up testing day in the north lot at South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor), Note that we learned last week, thanks to a reader, that the originally announced time was wrong – it actually starts at 9:30 am and continues until 3 pm, and last week right at the start, they were filling up fast.

ALERT IF YOU’RE GETTING UNEMPLOYMENT PAYMENTS: Another state advisory:

Additional $600 in federal benefit for unemployed workers set to end July 25. Unless Congress acts to extend or adjust it, the additional $600 per week in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Program (FPUC) benefits, available under the federal CARES Act, will stop after next week. FPUC is entirely federally funded and available only at federal discretion.

GRILLBIRD UPDATE: The teriyaki restaurant that voluntarily closed last week after an employee tested positive for COVID-19 reports that everybody else has tested negative, but plans to wait a while longer to reopen “so we can finish up some improvements and reopen with 100% certainty.”

PERMANENT CLOSURE: Announced today by Kaiser Permanente:

Following the rapid adoption of, and increasing demand for, virtual care across Washington state as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kaiser Permanente announced the permanent closure of CareClinic by Kaiser Permanente at Bartell Drugs locations, temporarily closed in March during the state-mandated stay-at-home orders.

The Jefferson Square Bartell Drugs had one of the clinics, until March.

PHOTOS? TIPS? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302 – thank you!

Gwen July 16, 2020 (11:11 pm)

Remember two months ago When the average cases were under 40 a day and it seemed like maaaaaaaybe there was a light at the end of this garbage tunnel? Good times.

psps July 17, 2020 (12:20 am)

And yet we have Duke’s still insisting on continuing dine-in service after closing TWICE for employee infection. Will people ever get beyond the denial stage? And people are seriously considering reopening schools? 30% of the kids tested in Florida are positive.

David July 17, 2020 (6:19 am)

According to Inslee, staying closed 2 months longer than other states would prevent a return of the virus. This was a crazy statement then and his new restrictions are even crazier now. The virus can’t be controlled without stopping life. The draconian measures put in place months ago were not sustainable and people just don’t care as much anymore. Inslee made things significantly worse by allowing / encouraging hundreds of people to riot / protest in the streets for weeks and break the restrictions he’s asking everyone else to follow.

TJ July 17, 2020 (6:40 am)

And yet you can guarantee over 90% of the positive kids in Florida have zero symptoms. But they are the ones getting hosed out of this the worst. No school (the joke distant learning aside). No sports. Getting criticized for hanging out at the beach with groups of friends on 80 degree days. Having to listen to the doomsday media (not WSB) that always has this getting worse coming up and downplaying or flat out not reporting good news or reports. Scary news is big business to the media. What happened to middle aged people stroking out from this? To kids getting Kawasaki Syndrome symptoms? 4 months ago you couldn’t get tested unless you were severely sick or extremely high risk. It is obvious that way more people had this back in February and March but weren’t getting tested. Kids, let the adults fight over this through the election, then things will maybe go back to normal.

uncle loco July 17, 2020 (12:48 pm)

I predict that the covid hysteria will fade fast after the November elections.
- Stay well July 17, 2020 (9:45 pm)
  
  Covid hysteria?
  
  This is a serious worldwide crisis.
  
  141,000 Americans have died in 5 months from C19.
  
  600,000~ people worldwide.
  
  And that is with all the mitigation efforts, thus far.
  
  Must be nice and easy, to be in oblivion.
  
  https://covidtracking.com/blog/weekly-update-unchecked-new-cases-turn-deadly
- Uncle Sanity July 17, 2020 (10:19 pm)
  
  You gotta admit, it was pretty ingenious of the democratic to dream up this whole “hoax” then get all those other countries to cooperate with the sham.

Stay well July 17, 2020 (9:03 am)

Thank you for your reporting and keeping us well updated, WSB.

Also, best to GrillBird, and look forward to their reopening when the time is right.

anna11223344 July 17, 2020 (10:31 am)

I don’t know that the reopening of Duke’s or schools is a symptom of denial, but perhaps a different response. Focusing on harm reduction rather than keeping everything closed seems like what we should be focused on.

JJ July 17, 2020 (5:02 pm)

Nice presentations on transmission… https://youtu.be/Cio3rh6ta3w

Jaye July 17, 2020 (5:29 pm)

I don’t think doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel would call it “Covid hysteria.” They’ve seen too many people (adults and even kids) horribly ill or dying from Covid. They have held the hands of patients as they breathed their last labored breath, since the patients’ own families can visit. Believe the science, (aptly named) Uncle Loco, and learn the facts. Oh, and if we let our kids return to school, only a tiny percent will catch Covid, so I guess that’s acceptable to you, as long as it isn’t your kids/nieces/nephews/grandkids. And who cares if teachers, janitors, etc. catch Covid, right?If everyone wore masks when needed, scientists whom I trust say we could have significant “harm reduction” within a month or so. I hate to see small businesses suffering, but it’s better than patients suffering under a ventilator. Besides, many businesses are reopening – just wear the damn mask and don’t linger. Or buy a gift certificate, order takeout, whatever. Remember, if you’re irresponsible, you can make the business owners sick.

heartless July 17, 2020 (8:18 pm)

You are correct, of course.

Republicans of certain stripes have been pushing a new narrative, a new story to tell each other (and try to tell others–even though most others are now quite tired of them talking).

And the narrative is simply that this is the new normal–that of course people are going to get sick and die, that’s just the cost of doing business, and it’s really not even news anymore, why it’s only a drop in the bucket compared to cancer and other illnesses.

It’s a fundamentally sick and twisted agenda, and those who push it are either willfully ignorant, at best, or just really awful people. But they still shuffle onwards and dutifully spread the message–sure, people are dying, but that’s to be expected, don’t worry, everything is totally fine!

So when you see those views expressed–remember, it’s a concerted effort, and it comes from the top down (even if many of those parroting the message aren’t aware). And it’s wrong and it’s vile, and I am so thankful to read comments like yours where you rail against them and simply point out the truth–that this is really awful, and we need to remain vigilant and careful lest it get worse.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/07/trumps-coronavirus-plan-americans-learn-to-live-with-it.html

Sorry, comment time is over.