Tonight’s pandemic-related toplines:

NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Public Health daily-summary dashboard, the cumulative totals (keep in mind, these are the first since Monday):

*21.158 people have tested positive, 145 more than yesterday

*748 people have died, 1 more than yesterday

*2,317 people have been hospitalized, 8 more than yesterday

*405,290 people have been tested, 1,841 more than yesterday

One week ago, those four totals were 20,440/741/2,283/386,938.

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

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

VACCINE PLAN: In today’s weekly state Health Department briefing, it was noted that states have to get their vaccine-distribution plan ready for the feds by October 16th, so they’re working on it. “Essential” workers such as health-care workers are likely to be the first to whom a vaccine would be made available. More than 40 potential vaccines are in clinical trials around the world, Secretary of Health John Wiesman said.

ALSO AT THE BRIEFING: State Health Officer Dr. Kathy Lofy talked about new data regarding contact tracing (here’s the news release) – in short, many are reluctant to participate. Watch the full briefing here.

WEDDINGS & FUNERALS: New rules announced today by the governor’s office:

The update allows wedding and funeral receptions to resume, as long as they meet specific requirements.

-Receptions and ceremonies must be capped at 30 people, or 25% of venue occupancy, whichever is less

-All tables at the reception must be seated by household, with table sizes capped at 5 people

-Facial coverings are required, and social distancing must be maintained

Read the full guidance document here, and associated memo here.

TWO WAYS TO HELP: Order flowers ASAP to help farmers; donate food and/or toiletries at a drive-thru event on Saturday.

GOT INFO? Email us at westseattleblog@gmail.com or phone us, text or voice, at 206-293-6302 – thank you!