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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
When stuck at home under self-isolation and quarantine, it can be easy to forget the magnitude and beauty of our universe. Tonight, we are fortunate to have a forecast for clear skies and as a result we hopefully will be able to see the largest supermoon of the year. It’s comforting to know that, even though we are separated physically from each other, we can still connect emotionally and spiritually by collectively enjoying this beautiful and somewhat rare spectacle. Click the following link to learn more about this particular supermoon: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/science/catch-this-weeks-supermoon-biggest-and-brightest-of-year/
The rest of this e-newsletter is meant to provide you with an update on some of the other issues on which I’ve been working as well as on helpful information related to the COVID-19 crisis. As always, I would like to hear from you. Please do not hesitate to contact my office if you have any questions or comments.
All the best,
Latest numbers from Public Health
Public Health—Seattle & King County is reporting the following confirmed cases and deaths due to COVID-19 through 11:59 p.m. on 4/6/20.
- 3486 confirmed positive cases (up 155* from yesterday)
- 230 confirmed deaths (up 8 from yesterday)
* The “new confirmed positive cases” figure we publish each day represents all new confirmed cases reported to us through 11:59 the night prior. Some of these test results were processed on days prior but were delayed in being reported to us.
Detailed information about demographics of those who died from COVID-19 is available on the data dashboard (www.kingcounty.gov/covid/data).
Also, and again, here is an excellent website that offers real-time COVID-19 data in clear formats, broken down by country and state: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries
Inslee announces $5 million grant program for small businesses
Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday announced a new grant program especially targeted to small businesses struggling amid the COVID-19 shutdown. The Working Washington Small Business Emergency Grant program will provide a limited number of grants of up to $10,000 for businesses with 10 or fewer employees.
If you’d like to learn more or apply for the grant, click here.
State launches food fund to provide relief as food bank demand surges
An estimated $1.6 million Washingtonians will approach food banks for help staying fed this week – double the normal demand – as the COVID-19 crisis and economic shutdown continues. At the same time, donations to food banks are down 70%, largely as a result of the drops in food donations from grocery stores that are not ending up with surplus foods they can donate.
In response, Washington state partnered with leading nonprofits and on Tuesday launched the Washington Food Fund. Partnered with Food Lifeline, Northwest Harvest and Second Harvest, the fund will collect donations to distribute food to hundreds of food banks across the state.
You can find more information and donate here.
How else you can help
You can also find out more ways in which you can help during the coronavirus epidemic by reading this very informative article from The Seattle Times: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/want-to-donate-to-coronavirus-causes-in-seattle-heres-how-to-help/?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=mobile-app&utm_campaign=ios
Additional helpful and informative links
Today's moment of levity
As you know, I do like to include a little piece of joy into these daily newsletters. I hope that you enjoy the dance created by this family staying inside together, the “Family Lockdown Boogie,” as much as I did! Click the following link to enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-ugfNXYcDg Perhaps some of you all can come up with videos of how you’re handling the confinement and I’ll see about including it on one of my enews updates.
Keep in touch
Thank you again for taking the time to read my update. You can expect ones to continue being sent out on a daily basis, sometimes more than one. Feel free to forward them to others who can subscribe by clicking here.
Finally, to prevent these updates from going straight to spam or junk folders, I encourage you to whitelist these emails by adding the email address to your contacts or address book. And be sure to check your spam folder if you think you may have missed an update.
And please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns and, most importantly, be well.
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