CORONAVIRUS: Tuesday 10/20 roundup

Tonight’s pandemic-related toplines:

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

*25,367 people have tested positive, 98 more than yesterday’s total

*785 people have died, unchanged since Saturday

*2,508 people have been hospitalized, 10 more than yesterday’s total

*510,947 people have been tested, 3,281 more than yesterday’s total

One week ago, the totals were 24,330/779/2,458/486,967.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.

NATIONAL/WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 40.7 million cases worldwide, 8.2 million of them in the U.S. – see other nation-by-nation stats by going here.

‘FALL SURGE’: The state Health Department warns that this is starting, and action is needed to reverse the trend. Case numbers in Western Washington are of particular concern. In short, the state says, this is no time to let up on protective measures.

GOVERNOR’S BRIEFING: At his media briefing this afternoon, Gov. Inslee announced new safety rules to try to stop the outbreaks reported at college campuses. You can watch the briefing video here.

BRIEFING TOMORROW: State health officials’ weekly briefing is Wednesday at 2 pm; you can watch the livestream (or, later, the archived video) here.

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

12 Replies to "CORONAVIRUS: Tuesday 10/20 roundup"

  • Flivver October 21, 2020 (6:41 am)

    Is there a breakdown at zip code/city/county level that would show how many of the hospitalizations/deaths were people in nursing/adult home settings?

  • Stay well October 21, 2020 (8:30 am)

    10 more hospitalizations… best wishes for these patients. I hope treatment outcomes have improved.

    I wish there was a way we could have more info on these 10 patients and follow them to learn more about the trajectory of the illness and how many of these 10 recover or lose their lives.

  • anonyme October 21, 2020 (10:04 am)

    The Health Department acknowledges that the “fall surge” has begun and that cases are rising, yet restrictions are being eased.  This seems, well, idiotic.

    • Stickerbush October 21, 2020 (10:37 am)

      I’ve been wondering about this myself. I have two possible explanations. 1) The initial restrictions were too conservative and  2) Inslee is trying to get a few more votes in the upcoming election.

      • CAM October 21, 2020 (8:13 pm)

        I am not a fan of loosening restrictions but to claim that they are unnecessary because they are being loosened is inconsistent with recent evidence on how the virus spreads. More likely, the state is in a catch 22 because the federal government has completely failed to produce any kind of support and the state has no further funds to continue offering the level of financial support they have been thus far. I don’t think they’ve made the right decision in terms of weighing the potential costs but this isn’t so simple as naked political calculus. 

        • Foop October 22, 2020 (3:56 am)

          I look for that day when every decision isn’t hyper politicized. Businesses are failing, people are out of work and rent will still come due. Land lords have tenants who can’t pay. We have to ease restrictions and implore people to act with an abundance of caution in order to come out on the other side of this. People need to work to pay bills, businesses need to be able to open up services to make their overheads. If we keep everything shut down until the fed comes with up a cohesive testing and tracing plan, we all lose. We’re already in for a reckoning when these eviction moratoriums end and landlords start demanding that rent back pay.

          • Neutral October 22, 2020 (3:59 pm)

            Get used to it.  As long as issues are funneled through the federal government it’s going to be politicized.  What the party on the left says is what the people on the left do, and vice versa for the right…so on and so on.  We’re going to stay at odds with each other when we expect the feds to solve all our problems.  Perhaps the federal government is getting to expanded and states (a.k.a. the people) need to take back some decision making?  @CAM The feds aren’t responsible for fixing this outside of providing the States financial assistance (Stafford Act 1988) unless the State(s) request help. Our state did request additional services and a mobile hospital was installed in SODO but ended up not being needed and closed.  IMO, where the current administration failed is by the FDA not approving the use of Covid test kits being employed in other nations.  That set our country way back in the fight against Covid.  

  • Flivver October 21, 2020 (1:30 pm)

    Stickerbush. The big increase has been with the 20 to 29 year old’s. Think students and bar hopper’s.

    • CAM October 21, 2020 (8:07 pm)

      That was true initially but is no longer factual. They have said in their recent updates that the rise in cases is spread among all age groups and is particularly concerning among the older population groups who are more vulnerable. I am not a member of either group but we can’t blame anyone in particular for this. This is everyone. We all need to do better. 

  • JJ October 21, 2020 (4:08 pm)

    Infections won’t stay with the students and bar hoppers. It spreads.

  • MikeW October 21, 2020 (7:47 pm)

      It would help to know with each date’s “how many hospitalized” number the corresponding “How many discharged” number, since the real issue is what’s the burden on the hospital system.

Sorry, comment time is over.