CORONAVIRUS: Thursday 4/29/2021 roundup

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news

Here’s what you need to know about the pandemic tonight:

NEWEST NUMBERS: Since King County had no Wednesday update, the newest numbers from the Public Health daily-summary dashboard represent two days worth of totals:

*97,620 people have tested positive, 876 more than Tuesday’s total

*1,514 people have died, 9 more than Tuesday’s total

*5,784 people have been hospitalized, 42 more than Tuesday’s total

*1,036,081 people have been tested, 3,105 more than Tuesday’s total

One week ago, the four totals we track were 95,062/1,500/5,621/1,018,555.

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

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 150.5 million cases worldwide, 32.2 million of them in the U.S. See the nation-by-nation breakout here.

ROLLBACK WATCH: King County is still way beyond the case and hospitalization rates that would allow staying in Phase 3. Monday is when the state takes a look at the numbers, with decisions announced Tuesday regarding whether anyone has to roll back on the following Friday.

VACCINATION HESITATION: Gov. Inslee talked about it during his briefing this afternoon. He called the slowdown in vaccine demand “terrible” while extolling the benefits of getting vaccinated – with an increasing list of things that vaccinated people will be allowed to do.

NEED A SHOT? City-run sites including West Seattle still have thousands of appointments – make yours here. Or call this hotline – 800-525-0127.

AND IF YOU’RE GOING TO A SOUNDERS MATCH … the team will be offering walk-up vaccinations to fans, starting Sunday.

COVID AT SCHOOL: Another local elementary school has reported a COVID case. This time, it’s a person at Lafayette Elementary, according to a letter to the staff that doesn’t specify whether the person is a student or staffer but says “Seattle Public Schools’ COVID Central team did not identify any individuals who came in close contact with this person.” Here’s the district’s notification policy. The district isn’t keeping school-by-school reports on its website but does have region-by-region numbers on this dashboard.

NEED FOOD? Two opportunities tomorrow: The nearest Food Lifeline distribution is 2-5 pm Friday at 815 S. 96th; Highland Park Elementary is offering drive-up grab-n-go food boxes during that same time period (1012 SW Trenton).

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

anonyme April 30, 2021 (6:44 am)

The virus doesn’t care about dates on a calendar. If I’m not mistaken, these numbers are the worst since Phase 1. The rollback should already have happened.

flimflam April 30, 2021 (11:01 am)

I agree. The need to adhere to a specific date when its clear what is happening is strange. Not as strange as Inslee moving metrics around to allow phase advancements, etc though. Keep in mind, these numbers a a two day total but the point is the same – its clear we will return to phase two after rushing into phase three by, once again, changing the metrics…
- Andy April 30, 2021 (11:31 am)
  
  I think the idea is to have some order and regularity to the decision making. Without a rigid evaluation period, it would be too easy to see 5 or 6 days of great numbers and say “time for phase 4,” or 5 or 6 days of terrible numbers and say “back to phase 1.” We’d be see-sawing all over the place, and the public would be (understandably) infuriated.
  - anonyme April 30, 2021 (2:32 pm)
    
    Andy, you make a good point. However, the numbers have been bad for weeks now, and have steadily gotten worse. There is a certain segment of the population that is angry at anything short of lifting all restrictions, and pandering to that crowd only ensures that many more people will die. I just think that politics aside, death is a more compelling argument.

we are fortunate April 30, 2021 (9:35 am)

Wow, how fortunate we are here.

The covid situation in India is so devastating.

How can we help?

The fact that people here see vaccination as just a choice or option, after watching this, to see how different the crisis is around the world, is mind boggling.

‘I’ve never seen anything like this’: Clarissa Ward on India Covid-19 crisis

https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2021/04/30/india-delhi-coronavirus-crisis-ward-pkg-ac360.cnn

fortunate April 30, 2021 (9:59 am)

‘Nothing short of an apocalypse’: Indian doctor on Covid crisis

https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2021/04/30/india-coronavirus-deaths-narendra-modi-husain-intv-berman-newday-intl-ldn-vpx.cnn
HS April 30, 2021 (10:12 am)

If your question was not rhetorical, the NYT published an article on how to help India – identifying organizations and groups. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/article/india-covid-how-to-help.amp.html
- fortunate April 30, 2021 (10:57 am)
  
  Thanks HS, this is great.
  
  I hope our government is helping as much as possible too.
- fortunate April 30, 2021 (12:48 pm)
  
  Keep thinking about those in our community who have family and friends in India… If there are any local efforts to help, accepting donations or gathering supplies, etc., please share.

Chiquita April 30, 2021 (9:45 am)

For anyone still looking for a 1st or 2nd dose, the city-run site on Thistle has extra doses (both Pfizer and Moderna, I believe) available today. They are actively trying to get anyone 16 or over to come in, no appointment necessary, and at least at this point there is no wait at all.

WSB April 30, 2021 (11:11 am)

Thanks, I’m confirming that with the city and will publish something separate shortly.

JJ April 30, 2021 (12:02 pm)

That Seattle School dashboard is interesting. You can really clearly see the shift in confirmed cases from adults to children after the adults all had a chance to be vaccinated. With so many children getting asymptotic and mildly symptomatic cases, that are still contagious, but much less likely to trigger testing, it’s notable to see 33 confirmed cases in our region. Looking at the distribution over time it really looks like reopening of in person learning is clearly temporally related to surging cases in kids, if not directly causal.

Justadumbguy April 30, 2021 (1:15 pm)

Yes JJ, interesting. Keep in mind that SPS is collecting much more data about students health now that they have returned to in person learning than they were when learning was remote. It is quite possible that the lack of recorded cases earlier is simply a matter of ‘no data’ and not ‘no cases.’ As someone with a child in SPS I’d be lying if I told you those numbers didn’t lead to some queasiness though.

JamesJ April 30, 2021 (1:02 pm)

I get why cases are going up in the, well let’s say, lesser educated counties. But I don’t understand why they are still surging here in King? Our vax rate is very high, and I haven’t seen a maskless face since last summer, indoors or outdoors. I feel like no one is addressing this, there must be more we can do? I’m just terrified now, hospitals are collapsing already.

bill April 30, 2021 (1:54 pm)

Get takeout from a restaurant that is also offering inside dining. You’ll see lots of unmasked people. As an engineer my spidey sense has always been that the indoor 6 foot separation guideline was mostly a desperation move by authorities to tell the population “something.” Now we’re getting some scientific confirmation that 6 feet indoors is not magically protective. See for example: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/23/mit-researchers-say-youre-no-safer-from-covid-indoors-at-6-feet-or-60-feet-in-new-study.html
- flimflam April 30, 2021 (3:50 pm)
  
  clearly, it was/is absurd to think everyone’s particles are staying obediently with them at their tables – then you have waitstaff having to lean in/down to place food on the table. most people do NOT mask up again once they are seated, eating/drinking or not.

Lynn April 30, 2021 (2:30 pm)

Lafayette had a case and we’re learning about it not from the school but on this blog. Why is that.

CuriousQuestioner April 30, 2021 (3:41 pm)

I think we are at a point where going backwards isn’t an option anymore. We need to go forward. Just because someone has been diagnosed with covid doesn’t mean that things are falling apart. we have the therapeutics and treatment options to deal with this. what we don’t have is the ability to run this city without any revenue.It’s sad to hear of the devastation Covid is causing in India. I hope we can help them turn things around soon!