CORONAVIRUS: Thursday 4/15/2021 roundup

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news

A new slogan tops our pandemic news check tonight:

‘TAKE IT OUTSIDE’: That’s the slogan Gov. Inslee unveiled during his mid-afternoon briefing, He urged people to take advantage of the warm weather by spending time outdoors, where transmission risk is lower. He in fact held the briefing outdoors:

He warned that cases and hospitalizations are still on the rise – “we’ve knocked this virus down three times, now we have to knock it down a fourth time.”

NEWEST NUMBERS: Here’s the latest on King County, from the Public Health daily-summary dashboard – today’s cumulative totals:

*92,599 people have tested positive, 441 more than yesterday’s total

*1,491 people have died, 2 more than yesterday’s total

*5,503 people have been hospitalized, 13 more than yesterday’s total

*1,002,141 people have been tested, 861 more than yesterday’s total

One week ago, the four totals we track were 90,362/1,481/5,429/988.612.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them, county by county, on the state Department of Health page.

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 138.8 million cases worldwide, 31.4 million of them in the U.S. See the nation-by-nation breakout here.

‘VAX DAY’: Today’s the day that everyone in our state 16 and up became eligible to get vaccinated in our state.

CITY VAX STATUS: The city’s vaccination efforts have now passed 100,000 shots given. Here’s the overview for city sites/teams this week.

LOOKING FOR VACCINE BY PHONE? You can use this hotline – 800-525-0127.

LOOKING FOR VACCINE ONLINE: Try these links:

*If you’re looking for a city-site appointment, note that the official advice is to 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, Neighborcare, 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
And if traveling a distance is not a barrier – Beth recommends this lookup for potential appointments within a few hours’ drive.

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

Gawdger April 15, 2021 (11:46 pm)

How many ppl in King County died of Influenza before Covid-19?

WSB April 16, 2021 (1:38 am)

In 2018-2019, 54.
https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/5100/420-100-FluUpdateSeason2019.pdf

beanie April 16, 2021 (8:16 am)

FYI, I just got an appointment at Valley Medical Clinic in Renton – it looked like they had a lot of appointments available. You have to create an account, but it was easy!

Robert Hill April 16, 2021 (8:52 am)

Quick shout out for Sea Mar. I got my first shot yesterday and only had to wait an hour. It appears they have scheduled appointment (daily and 2nd shot follow-ups). But they allow for standbys in case someone misses their appointment.

flimflam April 16, 2021 (9:12 am)

so all that indoor dining is A-OK, huh? alrighty then…that makes me feel so much better about my restaurant job. honestly, how can he, in the same spiel, urge everyone to “take it outside” while not acknowledging the restaurant situation?

Lisa April 16, 2021 (9:53 am)

Flimflam, I have been reading your comments since last year sometime, and I have agreed with every one of them. Thank you for your honest comments about indoor dining, which is an activity that only makes sense when we can all gather without masks and enjoy each others company without thinking about the servers who have to wait on us while we are not wearing masks. I love eating out, but have not done so since February 2020. I would not enjoy my meal thinking I was putting the staff at risk with every bite of my food. Thank you Flimflam, whoever you are!

flimflam April 16, 2021 (11:38 am)

Thank you, Lisa, for the kind words. In theory, customers are supposed to be masked at all times when not actively eating or drinking, but that doesn’t happen. I have a clear view of the dining room from my spot in the kitchen and i will occasionally see customers mask back up when the server approaches the table, but that is rare. The owner doesn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable so he is reticent to take a “militant” approach. thankfully we keep all of our doors and windows open and have turned off our ceiling fans as not to stir up the air. of course, we have to then explain over and over to people that find it a tad chilly that, no, we won’t close that door, window, etc….i could say so much more but i’m sure its tedious reading to most that just want things to feel “normal” for themselves. the main thing i want to get across is how frustrated so many of us are in the industry to feel such a blase attempt to consider our health, i mean Inslee didn’t even MENTION the “everything outdoors yet indoor dining is ok!” clash- there aren’t many jobs i can think of right now where you expected to feel ok working around countless unmasked people.
wsperson April 16, 2021 (11:59 am)

Same. No way would I go to a restaurant right now. I wish people could choose to work or not work during the pandemic.

West Seattle Mad Sci Guy April 16, 2021 (2:59 pm)

Sea Mar is not exactly walk in. From the sounds of it you need to walk in “when they open” and make an appointment for later that day. They run out fast. If you just show up mid-day you don’t get in a queue/line.. They’ll just tell you they have no appointments.

Sorry, comment time is over.