CORONAVIRUS: Friday 4/30/2021 roundup

Tonight’s pandemic headlines:

NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY: The city-run vaccination site in West Seattle is now taking walk-ups of any vaccine-eligible age (though appointments are still recommended to guarantee time slots). The hub will try out evening hours next Wednesday, too.

COUNTY HEALTH OFFICER’S BRIEFING: Even while acknowledging that King County is looking likely to roll back to Phase 2 in a week, Dr. Jeff Duchin says he sees reasons for optimism. Overall – hospitalizations are up, deaths are down. Watch his briefing here.

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

*98,095 people have tested positive, 475 more than yesterday’s total

*1,525 people have died, 11 more than yesterday’s total

*5,827 people have been hospitalized, 43 more than yesterday’s total

*1,038,291 people have been tested, 2,219 more than yesterday’s total

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

*1,190,224 people have received one dose

*783,936 people have received both doses

*1,691,845 doses have been allocated to King County (not counting pharmacy programs)

One week ago, the first four totals were 95,470/1,502/5,645/1,023,092, and the vaccination totals were 1,076,724/681,274/1,511,775.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 151.3 million cases, 3,176,000+ deaths – see the nation-by-nation numbers here.

CHANGES FOR LONG-TERM-CARE FACILITIES: The state is aligning its guidance with recent federal changes:

The changes will allow residents who are fully vaccinated to choose to have close contact with other fully vaccinated individuals and to not wear source control during the activity. This change reflects the continuing progression towards returning long term care facilities to a more normal state by allowing residents to have greater contact with their fellow residents, reducing the stark social isolation many have faced during the past year.

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

4 Replies to "CORONAVIRUS: Friday 4/30/2021 roundup"

  • Stay well May 1, 2021 (6:15 am)

    In Dr. Duchin’s briefing, he emphasizes ventilation as being a key ongoing mitigation strategy. 

    One thing we can all do, while also continuing to mask and social distance around others in public settings, is try to encourage increased ventilation – bringing outdoor air in.

    So, business owners, having windows and doors cracked, now that the weather is becoming more mild, would be good.

    Customers, when you go somewhere and notice there isn’t good ventilation, ask if it’s okay to leave the door open or crack a window for ventilation – help educate.

    Bus riders, please open some windows.  I’ve gotten on some buses this past year that had a fair amount of riders and no windows cracked for ventilation. It always perplexes me… this is such a simple thing we can do to help prevent covid spread. 

    Remember, there are new virus variants which are spreading more easily now. And just because you’ve been safe riding an unventilated bus, or dining in an unventilated cafe, etc. before, doesn’t mean you aren’t at risk in doing so again. You may have just been lucky so far.

    Get vaccinated, keep up the good practices, and stay well everyone. We will get through this.

  • zephyr May 1, 2021 (10:41 am)

    Can you (WSB) throw up a link to a chart describing the Recovery Phases?  I’ve been looking through King County and the State for this and can’t seem to find one.  Thanks.You would think it would be on this site:  https://coronavirus.wa.gov/what-you-need-know/roadmap-recovery-metricsI did find this for King County:  https://kingcounty.gov/elected/executive/constantine/news/release/2020/June/15-recovery-phase-2.aspxBut maybe there is something simpler to refer to–a chart perhaps?  Thanks. 

  • TheSnowTroll May 1, 2021 (1:56 pm)

    I’ve noticed that the Effective Reproduction (Re) number on the KC Key Indicator dashboard hasn’t been updated since 4/14 when it says it’s updated every Wednesday.  I’ve tried to look for it as the sources listed (IDM and MSFT AI for health) but couldn’t find it.  Anyone or WSB know where to find an updated reading on this metric?

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