PANDEMIC UPDATES: Local check-in #26, 1/10/2022, with Seattle Public Schools’ testing results

Here’s our weekly update on local pandemic numbers, including the weekly Seattle Public Schools updates, just made public this evening, with results from the district’s recent mass testing. First, the countywide and local info:

KING COUNTY CUMULATIVE NUMBERS (through today):

*248,775 cases – 37,244 more than a week ago (9,245 total in West Seattle, up 1,330)
*9,750 hospitalizations – 438 more than a week ago (277 total from West Seattle, up 7)
*2,196 people have died – 31 more than the previous update (77 total in West Seattle, unchanged)

SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS STATS

The SPS dashboard wasn’t updated until this evening, and it includes the results of the district-wide testing one week ago (SPS had said previously that about 4% of those tests were positive). Districtwide, the cumulative case total for this school year is 2,101, 807 more than a week earlier. Here’s the local school-by-school breakout (as always, these total also are cumulative):

West Seattle High School – 39, up 15
Chief Sealth International High School – 33, up 10
Denny International Middle School – 32, up 4
Louisa Boren STEM K-8 – 23, up 5
Arbor Heights Elementary – 22, up 7
Madison Middle School – 21, up 8
Alki Elementary – 19, up 13
Gatewood Elementary – 19, up 2
Fairmount Park Elementary – 18, up 6
Sanislo Elementary – 17, up 12
Pathfinder K-8 – 17, up 9
Genesee Hill Elementary – 17, up 3
Concord International (Elementary) – 15, up 6
Roxhill Elementary – 15, unchanged
West Seattle Elementary – 14, up 4
Highland Park Elementary – 14, unchanged
Lafayette Elementary – 11, up 1
BRIDGES @ Roxhill – 1, unchanged

The district’s newest pandemic-related message to families is here.

VACCINATION RATE

82.4% of King County residents 5+ have completed their vaccine series – up .5% from one week ago.

By West Seattle zip code – note that these numbers are still NOT available as 5+, so they reflect the percentage of 12+ population; the county has stopped calculating the boosted percentage, so we don’t have those numbers this time:
98106 – 88.5% completed series
98116 – 91.6% completed series
98126 – 83.5% completed series
98136 – 93.3% completed series
98146 – 83.8% completed series

(Find more COVID-related King County stats here.)

THE WEEK’S PANDEMIC HEADLINES

Boosters for teens and tweens – The recommendations for boosters expanded this week to include 12- to 17-year-olds.

Testing coverageThe White House has decreed how much COVID testing health-insurance providers must cover.

GETTING TESTED

-The city-sponsored, UW Medicine-run West Seattle testing site at Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex (2801 SW Thistle) is limiting testing to symptomatic/exposed people. Appointments can be made here (if you find an opening).

Curative continues operating two West Seattle testing locations – at Don Armeni Boat Ramp (1222 Harbor SW) and at Summit Atlas School (9601 35th SW)

GETTING VACCINATED

The city-run vaccination hub at Neighborhood House High Point (6400 Sylvan Way SW) continues Friday and Saturday operations; here’s where to look for an appointment. Pliable‘s Sunday clinics (same location) are on hiatus until January 30th.

25 Replies to "PANDEMIC UPDATES: Local check-in #26, 1/10/2022, with Seattle Public Schools' testing results"

  • SPSWatcher January 10, 2022 (9:55 pm)

    Interesting school numbers. Overall, lower than I would have expected given the anecdotal evidence I’m hearing. I am wondering why two of the smallest elementary schools Sanislo (<200) and Alki (around 300) have the largest increase in cases. They are two of the oldest, worst condition buildings in the district- are all school staff being provided high quality masks?

    • wsty January 11, 2022 (6:58 am)

      Sansilo & alki have less privileged, white students which tend to be vaccinated.

      • SPSWatcher January 11, 2022 (10:45 am)

        Based on the information available on the SPS webpage- Alki is nearly 70% white and 75% non-low income- I personally wouldn’t consider that a school with “less privilege.” Based on the zip codes and number of people vaccinated in each, the Alki zone has about 3% more of the adults vaccinated than Sanislo-  with data not available for 5+. IF we are to believe the district dashboard, which I’m not sure I do- I just find it interesting that the similarity between the two schools with the largest increases seems to be that they are older buildings with presumably poorer air quality. 

    • Neighbor January 11, 2022 (7:11 am)

      I think it may be a reporting issue. Also some schools, including Alki, are doing rapid testing of any students at school who’s parents permit 

      • SPSWatcher January 11, 2022 (10:46 am)

        I agree the reporting may not be accurate. Why would some schools be offering rapid testing and others not? That doesn’t seem equitable.

        • Brian January 11, 2022 (3:57 pm)

          Absolutely nothing about SPS is equitable. For a concrete example of this, go visit Queen Anne Elementary and tell me that west Seattle schools get that same level of support. Like even just looking at the building itself… It’s night and day. 

    • WSteacher January 11, 2022 (7:40 am)

      To your question about whether schools are providing masks, we received a message from the district yesterday that cloth masks are sufficient in schools. Even admin, who now are just testing and contact tracing all day, are apparently fine to use cloth masks. So, if you mean the kn95 and n95s that are recommended…no. I guess the people who test at drive ins need full body PPE…but at school we are all about magical thinking.  

      • SPSWatcher January 11, 2022 (10:49 am)

        What can we do? I checked with my child’s teacher and the district had provided them KN95s. I will personally purchase and drop off masks to those who need it but I am not sure who needs it! And yes, I realize this is parents once again slapping a bandaid on a district and state funding issue. I sincerely hope all the parents screaming that kids must be at in-person school at all costs are considering the costs and helping to provide or advocate for safety measures for staff. 

        • Staff January 11, 2022 (6:22 pm)

          The district is definitely not supplying staff kn95 masks and has said they do not plan to as cloth masks with a surgical mask are sufficient. 

    • Ly January 11, 2022 (4:33 pm)

      Alki probably has high numbers because when one kid in class got infected, the classmates in that class were duly notified but only told to “keep an eye out for symptoms”. Meanwhile everyone else just continues attending and infecting the remaining students. smh.

  • Seaview Neighor January 10, 2022 (9:59 pm)

    Our WS numbers have jumped so much over the past three weeks. Any indication if our numbers correspond with trending county numbers? Seems so crazy high 

    • CW January 11, 2022 (6:49 am)

      For what it’s worth, the number of cases that were new last week relative to the overall total is pretty close between West Seattle and the county. I was curious when I saw such a high increase; using the weekly change and total cases I found that it’s a little over 14% in West Seattle and a little under 15% county wide. And that’s with testing hard to find.

  • Shufflerunner January 10, 2022 (10:13 pm)

    Looking at the chart on the dashboard is just shocking. I know other schools in the district are struggling to stay open due absentee rates and fear we’re not far behind. This isn’t the tide coming in, it’s a tsunami. 

  • Teach January 11, 2022 (6:23 am)

    I do not understand where these numbers came from? I teach at one of these schools stating less than 10 cases yet in my classroom I have 3 positive cases. I know another class with 5 more. Another with 2 more. List goes on.  Many happened over break, so does that not count? 

    • Teach 2 January 11, 2022 (3:20 pm)

      Same for me as well. I teach at one of the schools and it It’s obvious that the listing is completely inaccurate. Not sure if SPS staff are behind with data input or if families are not reporting to the district… either way the dashboard says there are 18 cases at my school. I teach about 15% of the students and I have at least 10 current cases. I started forwarding emails from families with Covid to the district contact tracing team and have not had a reply in days.

  • Rara January 11, 2022 (7:49 am)

    I’m sure the school numbers are likely higher. Just haven’t all been reported yet. This variant it way more contagious. So far those I know aren’t getting incredibly ill from it and recovering quickly. 

  • WET January 11, 2022 (8:18 am)

    I bet the numbers are much higher. When people do a rapid test at home they might not then go get a PCR test which is how numbers are counted. What the teachers are experiencing, mulitple kids in a class positive might be reflected in the overall numbers. 

    • ACG January 11, 2022 (5:41 pm)

      WET-You bring up a good point.  My understanding is that if someone rapid tests at home and gets a positive test it will not be counted in the numbers unless they go in and get a PCR test.  This may be why the numbers reported from teachers and students in the schools are much higher than these “official” weekly counts.  Perhaps I am wrong, though.  Can anyone confirm that if a student tests positive with an at-home test (and those results are reported by the parents/student to the school office or teacher), do those numbers get submitted by the school and included in these totals?  Or is it only the PCR test results that show up in these numbers?

  • Ant January 11, 2022 (9:41 am)

    Keep in mind these figures are largely based on self-reporting. Therefore, the true figures are likely higher.

  • Wseattleite January 11, 2022 (10:09 am)

    I wonder what some people are waiting for to quit tearing their and others lives apart through reaction to COVID.  I feel sorry for those who are waiting for COVID to go away.

    • WS Res January 11, 2022 (1:46 pm)

      You know what really tears someone’s life apart?  Death. Death of a loved one. Long-term or even permanent disability. Those are real bummers.

      • Pessoa January 11, 2022 (2:27 pm)

        We possess the tools to mitigate the risk of death, whether it be masks, vaccines, where we choose to congregate and whom we choose to associate with.  As far as school age children, a parent has the option of remote learning, or even home schooling.  The question is:  How much more long lasting damage are going to inflict on society to eliminate all risk?  If people are not asking themselves this question they are not being intellectually honest. 

  • JJ January 11, 2022 (11:55 am)

    My kid is estimating classes 1/2 to 2/3 full this week, at the high school, between those out sick, and those quarantining. The numbers look pretty outdated already. Omicron is tearing through like wildfire. A mask in a crowded public school isn’t going to cut it. The virus is so rampant. Maybe you can lessen the inoculation dose, or delay the exposure a little bit, but that’s all you can hope for if you’re going out in public these days. If you are immune compromised, elderly, or at risk consider sheltering in place until antivirals become more available.

  • Ly January 11, 2022 (4:29 pm)

    Feel like the numbers are higher than what is actually reported. I know a kid that tested positive who attends Alki. Someone in her class was tested positive, but only that kid was isolated. And in that time, the classmates who were infected, but not yet exhibiting symptoms, were going around quietly infecting people, because their parents were not told to quarantine? Do they not test everyone in close contact in that class?

  • Educator January 11, 2022 (5:09 pm)

    Based on what we as educators have seen in our classrooms at WSHS, these numbers are not accurate. We had far more cases that our listed here. Some of us had 10+ in our classes alone. 

Sorry, comment time is over.