CORONAVIRUS: Friday 4/2/2021 roundup

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news

Tonight’s pandemic headlines:

KING COUNTY NUMBERS: First, the latest stats from the Public Health daily-summary page, cumulative totals:

*88,786 people have tested positive, 417 more than yesterday’s total

*1,471 people have died, 5 more than yesterday’s total

*5,354 people have been hospitalized, 9 more than yesterday’s total

*975,969 people have been tested, 3,723 more than yesterday’s total

On to our weekly check of key numbers on the COVID Vaccination Among King County Residents dashboard:

*727,140 people have received one dose

*422,486 people have received both doses

*1,083,085 doses have been allocated to King County (not counting pharmacy programs)

One week ago, the first four totals were 86,536/1,459/5,261/958,183, and the vaccination totals were 628,239/348,784/935,435.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 130.2 million cases, 2,838,000+ deaths – see the nation-by-nation numbers here.

COUNTY HEALTH OFFICER’S BRIEFING: In his weekly briefing, Dr. Jeff Duchin warned that “cases and hospitalizations are climbing at a steady pace” and there’s no indication it’ll level off any time soon. He also talked about increasing numbers of variants – more than 600 cases identified so far. And he concluded with an extended baseball analogy, including that “it’s time to rally (against COVID-19) and shut it down for once and for all.”

NEED HELP FINDING A VACCINATION APPOINTMENT? Get in-person help in West Seattle on Saturday.

IF YOU’RE SEARCHING ONLINE – here are links to try:

*Check for West Seattle city-run site appointments here; sign up for the city’s notification list for all four of its sites here.
*Health-care providers (particularly bigger ones like UW Medicine (one reader specifically recommends Valley Medical Center), Franciscan, Swedish, Kaiser Permanente, etc.)
*covidwa.com (volunteer-run aggregator) – you can also follow its tweets for instant notifications
*The state’s Vaccine Locator (as mentioned above)
*The CDC’s Vaccine Finder
*Pharmacies big and small – Safeway, Rite Aid, QFC, Pharmaca, Costco
*Sea Mar clinics

IF YOU NEED TESTING SATURDAY: Remember that the city extended the operations of the West Seattle test site (2801 SW Thistle), so you can still get tested there Saturdays (as well as weekdays).

GOT INFO OR PHOTOS? westseattleblog@gmail.com or text/voice 206-293-6302 – thank you!

flimflam April 3, 2021 (8:05 am)

ok, another 400 new cases, more hospitalizations – does the state have to sit back and wait for the 12th to rollback all the reopenings or can it see the writing on the wall and step in earlier? seems inevitable at these rates…

polka dot April 3, 2021 (11:17 am)

Well, it’s not like the rules are coming from somewhere else that the State has to obey, they made the rules so the can change them. I hope they do rollback sooner, even if they wait until the 12th to rollback to Phase 2, it wouldn’t go into effect until the 16th. Dr. Duchin just said that the virus is spreading faster than we can vaccinate and that we ARE accelerating into a fourth wave so it seems like we should rollback now.
- flimflam April 3, 2021 (1:36 pm)
  
  indoor dining, in particular, is still a bad idea right now. i can see the floor from my spot as a cook and can say that MAYBE 25% of customers keep their masks on when talking to waitstaff – most just plop down in their seats and tear the mask off in their perceived “safe area”. its insane that the industry workers are subject to this, honestly. i can think of too many jobs that force you to be around unmasked people for the bulk of your shift – especially as low on the vaccine priority as we were.I know Inslee has done a mostly good job but i really feel he caved to pressure and started a victory lap too early.
  - wsres April 3, 2021 (2:28 pm)
    
    Inslee did a good job until he got re-elected. And I think it is in the waitstaff’s right to remind the patrons to keep their mask on while they are ordering.
    - AMD April 3, 2021 (5:37 pm)
      
      I agree, but servers are in a tough spot. Because of long-standing (and backwards) tradition in the US, tips are the bulk of servers’ take-home pay so challenging a guest can seriously impact your paycheck and in some cases, can risk your job (depending on how the guest responds, and if management backs their employees). Being right doesn’t pay the rent. It would be better if servers were not put in that position to begin with.
  - JJ April 3, 2021 (3:39 pm)
    
    You know Flim Flam I wouldn’t think any less of any restaurant worker lying to get a vaccine out of turn. While I do believe in some law and order, it has been truly immoral to risk the lives of these workers as we have. Sometimes people do what needs to get done to protect their own lives, and I can’t fault them for it.
    - flimflam April 3, 2021 (4:08 pm)
      
      I didn’t feel comfortable lying so I waited until the 31st and got my 1st shot then.if the state was going to keep dragging its feet I would have considered it, against my instincts and what I feel is right.

Stay well April 3, 2021 (9:14 am)

Hospitalizations are up 60% over previous week, says Dr. Jeff Duchin. One person hospitalized due to covid-19 every 1-2 hours in our county.

Deaths are currently down, but that is the result of a former decrease in positive cases. We are currently seeing a steady increase in spread, which means there will be an increase in deaths again in upcoming weeks/months.

NorthAdmirals April 3, 2021 (9:49 am)

Hopefully this isn’t the case with a lot of 65+ being vaccinated already
- winniegirl April 3, 2021 (11:37 am)
  
  People under 65 ARE dying and also getting very sick. The assumption that they are not is contributing to people ignoring the guidelines.
Stay well April 3, 2021 (12:55 pm)

… additional info which may be of interest:

Most recently, the highest rate of covid-19 cases and the highest rate of increase within a particular group, is happening in the 18-24 range.

Lowest rate is currently in the 75+ age range.

Hospitalizations primarily are folks in the 40-69 age range, followed by the 20-39 age group, and then some in the 70+ range.

anonyme April 3, 2021 (10:21 am)

I’m seeing lots more people flaunting masking and distancing guidelines recently. It’s hard to put that genie back in the bottle, so I expect many more will die in the weeks to come.

Buddy April 3, 2021 (11:29 am)

Drive up towards Mt.Veron area and beyond ( towns north of this area) lots of people with no mask and even small shop that the person working there had no mask. Just because you got your virus shot you should still wear a mask due to the fact of the mutations of the virus and also to socially responsible in protecting others and your self from the virus.
Alki resident April 3, 2021 (12:20 pm)

I noticed the same thing in outdoor settings like Alki.
Stay well April 3, 2021 (12:43 pm)

I’ve been encountering folks in public no longer masking who say it’s because they’ve been fully vaccinated.

Think there may be some confusion out there regarding what measures are still necessary after vaccination.

The CDC recommends currently we should continue with the same precautions in public settings, such as masking, social distancing, avoiding crowds, poorly ventilated places, etc.

What we can do after full vaccination is gather in smaller groups indoors with others who are fully vaccinated, perhaps without masking.

Maybe we should think of vaccination as just an additional layer of protection, along with mitigation efforts. Risk is lowered, but understand the vaccines are not 100% effective, and there is still much we don’t know yet.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html
- Buddy April 3, 2021 (4:27 pm)
  
  You said it!wear a mask to say you give about other people lives and your own life!

momosmom April 3, 2021 (2:52 pm)

Getting the vaccine doesn’t mean you no longer have a chance of getting the virus, you still can, it just means you have a better chance of kicking it if you do contract it! Wear you dam mask and quit being so selfish people.