DOH-ODW COVID-19 Update 9/16/20

Washington State
Department of Health

Office of Drinking Water

Hello Drinking Water Partners:

I hope as the cooler weather returns you have the time needed to finish all your summer projects. While the Office of Drinking Water continues to support the larger COVID-19 response efforts at the Department of Health; we are also continuing to support our drinking water systems and operators. I wanted to take a minute of your time to share some time-sensitive opportunities.

Governor Inslee’s Proclamation 20-23.7, Ratepayer Assistance and Preservation of Essential Services remains in effect until October 15, 2020. This proclamation put a moratorium on water shut-offs and put measures in place to support water systems and ensure all people have access to safe and reliable drinking water. Now it’s time to start thinking about what comes next! Many customers affected by COVID-19 may still not be able to pay their full water bills when the Governor’s proclamation expires. All community water system are required to develop customer assistance programs to assist those in need. Please visit our Customer Assistance webpage to find information and guidance.

Update—Free Financial Training
The Southwest Environmental Finance Center is sponsoring two free webinars, on September 28-29, titled "Financial Recovery from COVID-19 and Customer Assistance Programs for Small Water Systems in Washington State." The webinars will be held via Zoom and you may register online. Operators attending both webinars are eligible to receive 0.3 CEU. See the EFCN flyer for more details.

Update—Customer Assistance Programs Survey
Our Customer Assistance Programs Survey is open until the end of the month. This information will help us identify gaps and better support water systems while helping customers maintain this essential service. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey if you haven’t already done so. We need to hear from you!

Please feel free to forward this message. If you or someone else would like to be added to our email list for water systems and operators, contact Elizabeth Hyde. If you have technical questions or concerns, please contact Bill Bernier or your favorite ODW staff member.

Thanks for all the work you continue to do to protect public health!

Sincerely,

Emily Sanford
Acting Office Director

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The information below includes recent general messages from the Department of Health.

Good morning. The state Department of Health wants to keep you as informed as possible about continuing developments surrounding COVID-19, as well as provide guidance and resources you can share with employees, clients, or customers. If you want to manage your e-newsletter subscription preferences, you can do so here.

Wildfire smoke & COVID-19 are a bad mix

Not only do we need to continue to protect our communities against COVID-19, but now there are life-threatening fires throughout the state. Some of our neighbors have had to save their lives by leaving their homes, and hoping the fire spares their property. Many of us are struggling with the poor air quality from wildfire smoke.

Breathing in wildfire smoke can cause symptoms that are relatively minor — such as eye, nose, and throat irritation — and also more dangerous symptoms, like wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath.

If you’ve got red, itchy eyes and no fever right now, the good news is this is not generally a symptom of COVID-19. However, it can be a sign that the wildfire smoke in the air is affecting your body. If you have mild symptoms of smoke irritation, like itchy eyes or an irritated nose or throat, take steps to reduce your exposure to smoke now to prevent a more serious reaction.

When our bodies really react to wildfire smoke, the symptoms can look a lot like COVID-19: coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath. Serious wheezing and shortness of breath are always worth a call to your health care provider—or 911 if you are really struggling to breathe. Your health care provider can help you determine whether you should be tested for COVID-19.

When there is smoke in the air, and especially if you or members of your household are reacting to the smoke already, here are some things you can do to stay safe.

Stay indoors, with just members of your household. Remember, it is much easier to spread COVID-19 indoors than it is outdoors. And, smoke can make you more susceptible to respiratory infections like COVID-19. Protect your family from the smoke by staying inside and from COVID-19 by delaying your get-togethers until the air quality is good enough for you all to be comfortably outside.

Reduce outdoor physical activity. Save your walks, jogs, and yard work for a day when the air quality is better.

Keep indoor air clean.

• Close your windows and doors to reduce intake of smoke. Open them back up again when the air quality is good to refresh the air!
• Improve filtration of indoor air in your home and create a clean air room where you spend most of your time. A DIY box fan filter can improve indoor air quality in a single room. Filtering indoor air is an effective way to reduce fine particles from wildfire smoke.
• Avoid doing anything that may contribute to smoke or dust in the air, like burning candles or incense, smoking inside, frying or broiling, or vacuuming.

Keep wearing your cloth face covering to protect yourself and others from COVID-19; unfortunately, they don’t help that much with smoke.

Stay informed about current and forecasted air quality on the Washington Smoke Information blog and your local clean air agency’s website. For more information, visit our WA DOH Smoke from Fires webpage.

Practice compassion
Some people most vulnerable to wildfire smoke, like those over 65 or with pre-existing conditions, are also those most at risk for serious impacts from COVID-19. Check on your neighbors and make sure they know how to keep the air clean in their homes.

More information
Stay tuned to our blog for more information on how you can help stop the spread of COVID-19. Sign up to be notified whenever we post new articles.

Information in this blog changes rapidly. Check the state’s COVID-19 website for up-to-date and reliable info at coronavirus.wa.gov.

Answers to your questions or concerns about COVID-19 in Washington state may be found at our website. You can also contact our the Department of Health call center at 1–800–525–0127 and press # from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Friday, and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Language assistance is available.

Please note that this call center cannot access COVID-19 testing results. For testing inquiries or results, please contact your health care provider.