10 Replies to "CORONAVIRUS: Thursday 12/17 roundup"

• JJ December 18, 2020 (8:32 am)

  Wow. Big numbers. I was hoping they’d flatten out closer to what we saw earlier in the week. 

  • AdmiralE December 18, 2020 (1:15 pm)

    The numbers from 12/15 and before are different than after 12/16 per the DOH website.“Effective December 16, 2020, case, hospitalization, and death counts include both confirmed and probable cases. Confirmed cases are those where individuals had a positive molecular test result for COVID-19. Probable cases are those where individuals had a positive antigen test result for COVID-19, but no positive molecular test result. Our dashboard includes antigen test results dating back to June 2020, when they were first reported in Washington.”Also there could be duplicates (up to 1,000) though not all from King County as explained on another note there that I won’t quote.

• zephyr December 18, 2020 (9:14 am)

  I asked this question yesterday afternoon, but apparently it wasn’t seen.  So trying this again.*************************************************************Okay.  So if we shopped on Saturday at the Met Market–like we always do–(masked and distanced). do we need to quarantine even more than normal and then get tested?  Do
  people consider themselves exposed under such circumstances? .Is there anyway to find out what department this person was in?  Maybe even what time they were in the store.  That would help narrow our concerns down a little.  Were they a cashier?  Details would be nice.  Thanks. 

  • WSB December 18, 2020 (9:25 am)

    If you’re asking us – I would suggest calling the store if you are concerned because you spent prolonged time in the presence of an employee. Remember, businesses aren’t even required to disclose cases at all, but some do. These announcements are fairly frequent for the chains that have disclosure pages, a few a week chainwide, I’ve noticed in recent monitoring. (PCC keeps theirs archived at https://www.pccmarkets.com/news/2020/pcc-staff-positive-covid-cases/ but Met Market takes theirs down after a couple days.)

  • heartless December 18, 2020 (9:26 am)

    You want my personal opinion?  I’d monitor for symptoms more closely–oximeter if you have one, temperature, etc., but I wouldn’t quarantine.  I’d just continue the mask + distance routine you already follow.

    As for more detailed information from Met Market…  I doubt they will tell you anything, but it wouldn’t hurt to just call them and ask.  Tell them your concerns and see if they can at least narrow down the area of the store, or the timing, or anything.  Again, my hunch is that they won’t tell you anything more.

    Good luck, and I hope you and yours are safe.

  • wsperson December 18, 2020 (9:33 am)

    If you think you might have been exposed call your doctor or a nurse consulting line for advice, if you don’t have a doctor you can call the King County Covid Call Center with questions. But this is what they will tell you probably. — If you’ve been exposed to someone with COVID-19 and you have no symptoms, Public Health recommends the following:

    Stay in quarantine for 14 days after your last contact. This is the safest option.
    If this is not possible, stay in quarantine for 10 days after your last contact, without additional testing.
    If the first two options are not possible, stay in quarantine for 7 full days beginning after your last contact and if you receive a negative test result (get tested no sooner than day 5 after your last contact). This option depends on availability of testing resources and may not be recommended in some settings. Read more about how we are following the new CDC quarantine guidelines.

  • newnative December 18, 2020 (10:49 am)

    Exposure is considered being within 6 feet of someone for around 15 minutes (or more). I would think there is some margin of error on either side of that. But walking by people while masked should not be considered “exposure”.  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/public-health-recommendations.html

• JJ December 18, 2020 (9:57 am)

  zephyr, You could try calling the store for more details, but I’ll warn you that you should encounter a line of resistance to release further information somewhere along the way. Privacy of employee’s health information helps protect the workers from harassment or retribution over potential exposures. This right to privacy has been used as a tool to hide outbreaks and risks from employees and customers and communities over and over in this pandemic, by many companies. If you were shopping on days that have been reported then you are free to quarantine and get tested especially if you have vulnerable contacts, but your risk for exposure was probably low unless you were face to face with someone unmasked, or spent an excessive amount of time there. You could have been unlucky enough to have caught a random virus laden draft to an eyeball, but odds are low. If you develop symptoms you should get tested and isolate yourself, but if you feel fine just continue to use your regular social distancing, mask wearing, and hand washing. There is a lot of virus out in the community right now. It seems like you have been fine with the virus exposure risk of grocery shopping all along. There have likely been contagious shoppers in the store with you many, many times. That’s why they are masked… to lower their risk of transmission to you and your groceries. Don’t panic now, but asses your vulnerabilities, and risk level and take the appropriate actions for you and your family. I know many people who have been locked in their homes for 10 months, and disinfect deliveries. And others who go to work everyday. Keep your mask up and your 6ft spacing as a minimum public health precaution. I would avoid indoor spaces with any people outside your household at all, but I am more cautious than many. Check our state’s DOH website for guidance. The link is in the article above.

• zephyr December 18, 2020 (1:04 pm)

  Thanks for all the comments regarding this question.  I have no idea if I came near the individual who tested positive.  I do hope they recover and have no lingering issues.   Yes, I understand that I am bound to have encountered other infected individuals in the past several months since this started.  I guess my question came across as naive.  I will continue doing as I have been doing all these months–with restricted travel, social distancing, and masking of course.  Maybe it’s unfair to want to know what department someone worked in.  I was probably only in the store for all of 20 minutes.  I do like that link to the PCC list of locations where an infection has occurred.  That’s pretty transparent.  Thank you. .

  • Stay well December 18, 2020 (8:20 pm)

    Your question was understandable, great of you to raise it.

    If I were you, I would think about the shopping trip, and consider if you kept good distance, and kept moving, were wearing a good mask. 

    If you spent more than 5 minutes within 6 feet of an employee there, you might just be aware and monitor yourself for symptoms, but the risk would still be low, so no need to quarantine, unless you develop symptoms. 

    The virus is mostly spreading in households and in environments where people are near others for extended periods of time, like restaurants, gyms, workplaces.

    I wouldn’t worry too much at grocery store, so long as you and others on the store are following the guidance.

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