CORONAVIRUS: Thursday 4/8/2021 roundup

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news

Tonight’s roundup starts with the situation report:

STATEWIDE SITUATION REPORT: Six key points in the new report:

COVID-19 transmission is increasing statewide.

Statewide daily case counts began increasing in late March following a plateau in mid-February.

The biggest increases are in younger people, who are less likely to be vaccinated and can still get very sick or die of COVID-19.

Hospital admissions remained flat overall over the first three weeks of March, but are increasing as of more recent, incomplete data.

The number of hospital beds occupied by confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients began to flatten or increase in mid-March, following previous declines.

Read the full report by going here.

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

*90,362 people have tested positive, 336 more than yesterday’s total

*1,481 people have died, 1 more than yesterday’s total

*5,429 people have been hospitalized, 21 more than yesterday’s total

*988.612 people have been tested, 2.185 more than yesterday’s total

One week ago, the four totals we track were 88,369/1,466/5,345/972,246.

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

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 133.8 million cases worldwide, 31 million of them in the U.S. See the nation-by-nation breakout here.

ROLLBACK OR HOLD STEADY? Gov. Inslee‘s briefing this afternoon had a lot of questions about what’s ahead on Monday, when the state will assess counties to see whether they will stay in Phase 3 or change. He said they’ll use “the most recent, complete numbers” that are available that day, to make decisions. He also reminded people that with the vaccine, masking, and distancing, “this is in our control.”

COVID CLOSURE: A reader notes that Talarico’s in The Junction has been closed for a few days. Its website has this message:

For the safety of the community and out of precaution we will be closed today (April 6, 2021) starting at 3 pm. A family member of Talarico’s staff has tested positive for Covid 19. Talarico’s will be closed until all staff tests negative and the entire establishment has been sanitized. If you have any questions or concerns please contact us at talaricoswest@gmail.com Thank you! We will see you in a few days!

NEED HELP? On Saturday afternoon, the Greater Seattle Filipino-American SDA Church is offering free food and assistance in booking vaccination appointments.

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

LOOKING FOR VACCINE ONLINE: Try these links:

*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
*The CDC’s Vaccine Finder
*Pharmacies big and small – Safeway, Rite Aid, QFC, Pharmaca, Costco, Bartell Drugs
*Sea Mar clinics

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

Sea Mar Clinic vaccines April 9, 2021 (7:09 am)

I had a super easy experience with the Sea Mar Clinic receiving the vaccine this week. No appointments are taken, only walk-in. Check their website to make sure the clinic you want to go to is listed as “Vaccines Available.” As long as you’re considered “eligible” for the vaccine in the state of WA you can get it. There were only 2 people in line in front of me when I got there around 9:30am, and only a few when I walked out of there 25 minutes later. Super easy!

flimflam April 9, 2021 (7:21 am)

the leap from phase 2 to 3 was pretty quick and didn’t seem to be based on super low numbers – now i’m wondering if that was intentional so that if things rolled back there could still be indoor dining at 25% rather than 50%. maybe that is “out there” but i don’t completely trust that any indoor dining is a good idea and the data (steadier numbers or not) didn’t seem to support it. even a moment’s thought it doesn’t make sense, numbers or not – being in a dining room full of unmasked people during this pandemic is simply a bad idea for everyone, especially the workers who are now just barely starting to get their 1st shots if they’re lucky.

anonyme April 9, 2021 (8:08 am)

A month ago, most people were wearing masks, even when taking a walk around the neighborhood. Now, hardly anyone is wearing a mask, especially young people. They’re about to find out they’re not invincible after all.

RME April 9, 2021 (9:48 am)

I am a huge proponent of mask wearing, but the data doesn’t support the need to wear masks when walking around the neighborhood and keeping distance. There’s a recent NYT opinion piece to this effect, and I greatly appreciate the perspective.
sam-c April 9, 2021 (10:07 am)

We’ve seen people continuing to wear masks while out, like at the store, or at one of WS’s busy parks, for example. It’s rare to see someone without a mask on those occasions. The funny thing is we’ve seen the exact opposite from Anonyme’s description, on our neighborhood walks.
We’ve been walking outside without masks mostly, because there is so little traffic that we can easily cross the street to maintain distance, well in advance of crossing paths with other people. However, recently, I have seen most walkers wearing masks (from my view in getting mail, taking out trash, doing yard work, etc). So, we started wearing masks on walks even though we only see 1 or 2 people on the opposite side of the street…
- newnative April 9, 2021 (11:44 am)
  
  I have seen both in the same locations. I exercise at Hiawatha every other day and sometimes it’s full of families or exercise groups, few wearing masks and sometimes everyone is distanced and masked. Even in my condo building, there are old and young people who don’t wear their masks in the small, enclosed common areas (elevator, lobby). Drives me nuts.
- Pessoa April 9, 2021 (12:02 pm)
  
  I would guess that it is motivated by social conformity or the fear of social shaming – the latter being an overwhelming fear for most Seattleites. There really is no science supporting outdoor mask wearing if one is practicing social distancing.
  - westseattle April 9, 2021 (5:51 pm)
    
    People have a lot of reasons for wearing masks outside other than social conformity and the fear of social shaming. For example, people often walk from place to place running errands and it’s just easier to keep it on rather than taking if off and putting it back on over and over. People have discovered that they’re great for warmth, for protection from the sun, in place of wearing make-up, as a fashion statement, and more. I personally think I look cool in my masks and I’m going to keep wearing them even after the pandemic.
Bandana April 9, 2021 (11:33 am)

Stop the snarky comments on young people!

smittytheclown April 9, 2021 (9:29 am)

Are we all looking at the same data? Deaths are plummeting:https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/COVID19/DataDashboard#tables

AMD April 9, 2021 (10:49 am)

We’re looking at the same data, we just see a line that’s generally flat and call it a “plateau” rather than “plummeting.” Given your rosy outlook on the pandemic for the entirely of the last year and how THAT compared to reality, I am going to continue going with the DoH’s interpretation of the data. I would urge you to consider the same.

Pessoa April 9, 2021 (10:00 am)

It’s likely not happening via transmission from surfaces. The latest update from the CDC confirming what some of us already suspected. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/science-and-research/surface-transmission.html#ref7

Anna April 9, 2021 (10:44 am)

The fatality rates for young people are very very low. Yes, I know there can be long term effects from serious cases of covid, but the vast majority of younger people who catch covid are totally fine. I find the sentiment in the comments of this blog disturbing sometimes. It seems like some get excited about the idea of harm coming to others (ie when young people realize they aren’t as invincible as the thought they were.)

Sorry, comment time is over.