West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
On the eve of new restrictions, here’s the latest on the pandemic:
GOVERNOR SPEAKS AT 11 AM: As announced tonight, he’ll be joined by the mayors of Seattle and Tacoma, and the King County Executive. The stream will be here, and we’ll feature it here too, with as-it-happens toplines.
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: First, here are the cumulative totals from Public Health‘s daily-summary dashboard:
*33,995 people have tested positive, 627 more than yesterday’s total
*828 people have died, unchanged from yesterday’s total
*2,798 people have been hospitalized, 7 more than yesterday’s total
*592,199 people have been tested, 4,464 more than yesterday’s total
One week ago, those totals were 30,415/811/2,635/567,658.
WEST SEATTLE TREND: Here’s our weekly check of this stat, with numbers accessible in two-week increments via the “geography over time” tab on the daily-summary dashboard, combining the totals from the West Seattle and Delridge “health reporting areas.” As with the county in general, we’re continuing on a big upswing – in the past 2 weeks, 329 positive test results were reported; 103 in the 2 weeks before that; 59 in the two weeks before that.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 53.9 million people have tested positive, and more than 1,311,000 people have died; U.S. deaths have passed 245,000. Most cases: U.S., India, Brazil, France, Russia (same top three as last week, while #4 and #5 traded places). See the breakdown, nation by nation, here.
CLOSURES & REOPENINGS: We started the day with word of one more COVID-related restaurant/bar closure and within a few hours, there was word of four more – the list grew to Shadowland, Supreme, Can Bar, Pizzeria 22, Ma’ono. Meantime, two closures we’d reported earlier are over – Mashiko and Zeeks (WS) have reopened.
DONATION DRIVES TOMORROW: First, our weekly reminder – the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle is at California/Alaska every Sunday, by the Farmers’ Market entrance, 10 am-1:30 pm, collecting new, unwrapped toys for Toys for Tots. … Also tomorrow, socks and food will be collected outside Alki UCC (6115 SW Hinds), 10 am-3 pm.
GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!
Reminder now that we’re one week away: Next Saturday (November 21st) is the day Eastridge Church is giving away hundreds of turkeys and bags of groceries. This year, because of COVID-19, it’s drive-up distribution instead of line-up. The hours are the same, though, as announced last month – starting at 9 am and continuing for as long as they have turkeys (and groceries, and gloves) left to give away.The church is on 39th SW just south of SW Oregon, across from West Seattle Bowl, and they’re asking people not to show up early so there’s not a traffic jam.
5:09 PM: Two nights ago, Gov. Inslee said he expected “additional measures” within a few days to try to crack down on COVID-19. Tonight, it looks like he’ll make the announcement tomorrow. That’s according to email from the Washington Food Industry Association to its measures; we’ve received a copy. The email says the governor’s office briefed the WFIA’s president today, with word of new restrictions including:
*A ban on indoor social gatherings
*No indoor service for restaurants/bars (takeout and limited outdoor service will continue)
*25% capacity limit for retail, including grocery stores
(It’s been 5 1/2 months since limited indoor dining started being allowed again.) We haven’t yet received an official announcement from the governor’s office; though the WFIA memo said the announcement is expected around 10 tomorrow morning, multiple regional news outlets say 11 am.
7:33 PM: The official announcement is finally in, confirming the 11 am time; it’ll be streamed here (and we’ll carry the stream here too). No details in the announcement other than that it’s a media briefing with “an update on the state’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” and adding:
The governor will be joined by:
Dr. George Diaz, infectious disease physician, Providence Regional Medical Center, Everett
Jenny Durkan, mayor, Seattle
Victoria Woodards, mayor, Tacoma
Dow Constantine, county executive, King CountyDr. Kathy Lofy, state health officer and Nick Streuli, external affairs director, will be available for questions.
That Seattle City Light truck is the reason SW Charlestown is closed west of 46th SW – and a block away, SW Spokane is closed in the same spot. Planned work, according to the SCL map, which shows a 34-customer outage as a result of the work. No word how long it will last – the map shows the power in the area was expected to be restored four hours ago.
While we wait for a COVID-19 vaccine, there’s one virus you CAN get immunized against right now – influenza – and health authorities are stressing that it’s more important this year than ever because of the pandemic. If you have a Seattle Public Schools student in your household and they’re still not vaccinated, another free outdoor clinic is coming up this week: This one is hosted by the health center at Highland Park Elementary (1012 SW Trenton), 11:15 am-4:15 pm next Friday (November 20th). It’ll be behind the school, next to the gym doors, and you can schedule an appointment for your student(s) by using this online form or calling 206-455-9025. Here’s the informational flyer in English and en Español. (If Friday doesn’t work for you, check to see if the Thursday Roxhill clinic we mentioned earlier has room.)
11:09 AM: Thanks for the tips. Shadowland in The Junction is the latest to announce a closure after positive COVID-19 testing. The restaurant/bar announced online that “a customer alerted us that they tested positive for COVID-19. Shortly after, one of our employees’ results came back positive as well. Out of an abundance of caution, Shadowland will not be open until all of our staff members have tested negative, and our restaurant has been fully sanitized.” This is at least the sixth West Seattle COVID-related closure announced in the past week; our ongoing coverage is archived here.
11:37 AM: Make that at least eight closures. Moments after we published this, commenters pointed to online announcements by both Supreme in The Junction and Can Bar in South Delridge that they too are closed temporarily after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19.
Meantime, another of the previously announced closures is ending – Mashiko has announced that “the test results are pouring in negative” and that the restaurant will reopen tonight. (Added: Allison from Mashiko emailed to confirm everyone tested negative.)
1:18 PM: And another announcement: Pizzeria 22 in The Admiral District, which says a staff member has tested positive, and offers a broader message:
Effective immediately we will be closed until all our employees have been tested and quarantined for the appropriate time frame as per King County Public Health guidelines. We will then perform a thorough sanitation of our entire establishment and will reopen when or if deemed safe by city, county, and State officials.
Please note that many restaurants in West Seattle have now closed due to Covid-19. We are all in this together and we encourage you to please wear a mask , wash your hands and practice social distancing. And please continue to support your local restaurants and businesses that are still open. We will get through this and we look forward to safely reopening soon.
1:28 PM: And as just also pointed out in comments (thank you), Ma’ono has announced a temporary closure because of an employee’s positive test.
Thanks to Alec Newman for that photo taken during Friday afternoon’s “king tide.” Here are some notes to get your day going, including another chance for tide-watching:
ROAD WORK: Depending on the weather, crews could be working on 16th SW near South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) and on the low bridge (as previewed here Friday), and on Delridge Way.
FOOD DRIVE: You can take nonperishable-food donations for the White Center Food Bank to John L. Scott Real Estate-Westwood (WSB sponsor) 10 am-4 pm. The office is in the Westwood Village breezeway, across from 24 Hour Fitness.
LOCAL WINE: The Viscon Cellars (5910 California SW; WSB sponsor) is open 1-5 pm today so you can go get local wine.
KING TIDE: Might not be as spectacular as Friday afternoon, but it’s still going to be a fairly high tide even without an atmospheric boost – 12.4 feet at 3:18 pm.
SANDWICHES & BEER: Tat’s Truck visits Best of Hands Barrelhouse (7500 35th SW; WSB sponsor) 4:30-8 pm.
1:09 AM: Police are in The Triangle right now, investigating reports of gunfire involving vehicles near 37th/Alaska. The vehicles are reported to have left the area but one person at the scene is reported to be hurt, with an injury described as a “laceration,” not a gunshot wound, so far. Officers just told dispatch they’ve found shell casings at the scene.
1:14 AM: Alaska is closed between 36th and 37th while police continue investigating. They also are looking into a report that an injured man might have walked away from the scene.
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