CORONAVIRUS: Tuesday 2/16/2021 roundup

Eleven months after the governor closed schools, he saye it’s safe for them to be open, and that tops tonight’s pandemic news:

BACK TO SCHOOLS? Gov. Inslee‘s briefing this afternoon (see it here) started with his declaration that it’s safe for schools to reopen – with proper protocols, of course. He spotlighted a company that’s helping dozens of districts expand COVID-19 testing to enable opening safely and staying open safely. (More on that here.) Inslee noted that 200,000 students around the state are already getting some in-person instruction.

VACCINATION ACCELERATION: The governor also said the federal government is sending additional doses of vaccine next week, and touted the state’s continuing improvement in the percentage of doses that have been administered – now up to 81 percent, he said, 12th-highest percentage among the 50 states.

NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: Here’s the update from today’s daily summary from Seattle-King County Public Health – the cumulative totals, although note the data for the first stat is somewhat off tonight:

*80.317 people have tested positive, 14 more than yesterday’s total [NOTE: The county says today’s low case counts “may reflect ongoing efforts by (the state) to remove duplicates” after reporting that the statewide counts over the weekend “may have included up to 700 duplicates”]

*1,321 people have died, unchanged since Sunday

*5,008 people have been hospitalized, 7 more than yesterday’s total

*879,299 people have been tested, 2,298 more than yesterday’s total

One week ago, the totals were 78,981/1,300/4,919/863,266.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.

NATIONAL/WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 109.5 million cases worldwide, 27.7 million of them in the U.S. – see other nation-by-nation stats by going here.

QFC BAGGING TWO STORES: Grocery megacorporation Kroger says it’ll close two Seattle QFC stores, on Capitol Hill and in Wedgwood, because of the city’s mandate for “hazard pay.” Capitol Hill Seattle notes that the store on the Hill is on a future redevelopment site anyway; a Kroger spokesperson told KING 5 the two stores were “underperforming.” City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda calls the decision “beyond disappointing.” Grocery-workers union UFCW Local 21 calls it “corporate bullying.”

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

Dcn February 17, 2021 (12:34 am)

Is there a list of which 50 districts are signing up for testing? I can’t find anything on the DOH site, but the Seattle Times mentioned that a list of the schools had been provided by the Governor’s office.

WSB February 17, 2021 (8:19 am)

Sorry, I just looked around at multiple departments’ sites and the Health Commons site and in email including the original release; perhaps they requested it. The Enumclaw superintendent was the only school official to guest at the briefing, along with a Health Commons rep.

Smittytheclown February 17, 2021 (6:01 am)

Will someone attending one of the local Catholic schools briefly explain how they are pulling off in person learning? Alternate days to reduce class sizes? Open windows? Obviously distancing, plexiglass, masks, shorter class times, etc. Assume teachers and kids who are compromised can completely opt out?I see Holy Rosary kids on the playground during my walk and am so happy for them yet sad for our public school kids.

HRS Parent February 17, 2021 (9:06 am)

Holy Rosary is following OSPI guidelines with designated 6’ spacing in all shared spaces, mandatory masks, except when eating lunch behind a plexiglass partition. In addition, windows are open and an updated filtration system has been installed. Before entering the building, a health attestation and temperature check are performed as well as staggered start and end times. Upon entering the building and all classrooms hand sanitation is required. Students in K-4 are in-person full-time, while 5-8 alternate weeks between group 1 and 2. Students who are uncomfortable with returning may continue remotely. The school web site has a Covid-19 tab with detailed information.
- patience is a virtue February 17, 2021 (10:42 am)
  
  Sounds like a wonderful and stress free experience for kids 🙄
  
  Keep kids home until it’s safer for all and more true normalcy can return to school for them.
  
  All the scrambling to reopen and resume things is craziness.
  - another HRS parent February 17, 2021 (12:44 pm)
    
    My kids are very happy about it and glad to be back. It sounds intense but it’s really not that big of a deal. Much appreciation to HRS for making it happen.
- smittytheclown February 17, 2021 (2:56 pm)
  
  Sounds like a fantastic plan. I think Kennedy Catholic is doing something similar.Saw some HRS kids out on a walking field trip today with their teacher and it made me SO happy.I bet their enrollment is skyrocketing!

JJ February 17, 2021 (6:47 am)

QFC had some nice stores before the Kroger buy out. Then everything became cheap and trashy. That’s when pay and benefits were cut. Look at the real estate prices surrounding those stores. Cheap and trashy was not what the neighborhood wanted in a grocery store. Employees couldn’t afford to live within 100 miles of those stores anyway.

Mellow Kitty February 17, 2021 (8:28 am)

Well. I’m never going to any Kroger stores again.

anonyme February 17, 2021 (8:40 am)

How much of the new vaccine will go to a new site in West Seattle? Let me guess: it’ll get here “eventually”. The citizens of West Seattle are being treated inequitably; the next wave of vaccine needs to go to the West Seattle Senior Center. Enough with the excuses.

Chris February 17, 2021 (9:07 am)

Safeway Admiral is giving vaccines. Go to their site to sign up for an appointment. Have to keep checking and not give up. Finally got one yesterday. Then for second dose they give you an appointment after your injection.

WSB February 17, 2021 (9:15 am)

In that case people should try Roxbury Safeway as well. The Safeway signup (which we’ve linked before) is:
https://www.mhealthappointments.com/covidappt

However, at this moment (I just checked) they are not even offering Admiral or Roxbury as options, which they were previously (though choosing the option then led to a “nothing available” calendar).

Mom February 17, 2021 (9:17 am)

I put my 8 year old son in Catholic school…just dropped him off, 8am-3pm. They have a ton of safety precautions and he is loving it. I’m not super religious (outdoors is my religion)… and they don’t indoctrinate, just read some bible stories, basically all the stuff I learned at school back in the day. He has thrived and enjoys recess, lunchtime, and they even had a cute Valentines exchange last week. He has 8 kids in his class. And I pay $600 less per month. (I had to pay for a cohort to supervise my kid on a computer for public school, and private tutoring because he fell so behind). The school is amazing, diverse and has financial aid. My stress level is so much healthier and he is happy, and we pay less money. Win / win if you are paying for cohorts, childcare and tutors.

anonyme February 17, 2021 (9:31 am)

Neither of the sites mentioned is included on the master list for the WA Dept. of Health. Are you saying that people have to go to the individual websites of grocery stores and other facilities to check for availability? What’s the point of having a centralized list if this is the case? This just gets more and more ridiculous.

moomb February 17, 2021 (9:58 am)

A grocery store that doesn’t support their employees who give so much of themselves, usual for so little, isn’t welcome here in my opinion. Not surprised at QFC, but was a little disappointed PCC needed prodding to do the right thing.

W.E.T February 17, 2021 (10:10 am)

here is a vaccine finder that might be helpful:WA COVID Vaccine Finder (covidwa.com)

WSB February 17, 2021 (10:40 am)

Thanks; to save anyone else the trouble, (a) be sure to put in a zip code AND King County or else you get various other counties too; (b) it doesn’t list anything in West Seattle we haven’t already listed – QFC/Junction as a potential site. But maybe someone will get lucky as did the commenter upthread. – TR

Chris February 17, 2021 (11:31 am)

We just went into the Safeway site, we clicked on their COVID vaccine link or just click on pharmacy. We followed the prompts and used 98116 as our location. Even though the blue box comes up that nothing is there, keep clicking and another section will come up where you check a box. Granted it may still say nothing available, however after doing this literally hundreds of times, it will eventually. You have to be persistent. Appointments are cancelled during the day. We had a chance for one with just an hour before the appt & it was taken before we got the form filled out. It took 5 hours of persistence on one day to get one appointment. They do come up maybe hourly. Just cannot give up and keep trying. Granted it is extremely frustrating, however for us persistence did pay off after weeks of trying. We saw appointments could just pop up at anytime and be gone in seconds. Thousands of others are looking also. Our 92 year old and 85 year old finally got in. Just don’t give up. Also check the box on how many miles you want to go away from where you live…5 or up to 50 as another store might have an appt,

Chris February 17, 2021 (11:37 am)

We spoke to a senior yesterday at Safeway that had been assisted in getting her appointment through the Senior Center here in West Seattle. Seniors without computers or needing assistance, could contact them for assistance.