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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I hope you all had a good weekend – as good as possible considering the vast changes in our lives and likely not having been able to get together with families and friends or enjoying being at our beautiful parks. And here’s one more Easter bunny cartoon for the good of the order:
At tomorrow’s Council meeting new legislation is included on our agenda of which I am a cosponsor with Councilmember Girmay Zahilay that calls on Governor Inslee to impose an immediate moratorium on rent payments. The motion also urges President Trump and the federal government to impose moratoriums on mortgage payments immediately. The motion is being referred to the Council’s Committee of the Whole that meets next Tuesday, the 21st.
The economic fallout caused by COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on working families across our region. Many are without work and will soon be having to make difficult choices on how to financially survive this storm. Pausing the collection of rent and mortgage and avoiding evictions are the right thing to do until we are able to get back to our normal lives. You can read the motion by clicking the following link: https://mkcclegisearch.kingcounty.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4413090&GUID=597883D3-2AC9-4A10-B579-AE06EDE45478&Options=Advanced&Search=&FullText=1
As mentioned, the motion will be taken up at tomorrow’s virtual meeting of the King County Council. You can read the full agenda for tomorrow’s meeting as well as instructions for how you can participate and provide public comment by clicking the following link: https://mkcclegisearch.kingcounty.gov/View.ashx?M=A&ID=773997&GUID=D078E665-F3F7-438D-AF5E-679573665AA3.
The meeting begins at 1 p.m. and you can stream it live online by clicking the following link: https://livestream.com/accounts/15175343/events/4485487
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
As of this update, Public Health is reporting 123 new positive cases of COVID-19 in King County (4,549 total) and 4 new COVID-19 related deaths (296 total).
Keep in mind, that beginning on Monday, Public Health will be providing updates on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays only rather than on a daily basis. But I will try to get the numbers daily from other sources.
Detailed information about demographics of those who died from COVID-19 are available on the data dashboard. And, interestingly, you can click on your zip code to learn of the number of “positive” cases and fatalities where you reside.
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
New protections for high-risk workers
Gov. Jay Inslee issued a proclamation today giving high-risk workers the right to protect themselves from COVID-19 without jeopardizing their employment status or loss of income.
The proclamation provides older workers and those with underlying health conditions a series of rights and protections, including:
- The choice of an alternative work assignment, including telework, alternative or remote work locations if feasible, and social distancing measures.
- The ability to use any accrued leave or unemployment benefits if an alternative work assignment is not feasible and the employee is unable to safely work. Employers must maintain health insurance benefits while high risk employees are off the job.
- Employers are prohibited from permanently replacing high-risk employees.
High-risk individuals are defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and specifically include people 65 years of age or older and people of all ages with underlying medical conditions.
You can read the full proclamation here.
Tips for older adults
Protecting ourselves and those we love by staying apart is hard. At best, we greatly miss in-person connections (who else is imagining the many hugs they will give and receive on the other side of this?). At worst, people may struggle with isolation and maintaining mental and physical health.
But it’s so important for older adults to stay at home and away from others right now. People age 60 and over are at higher risk for severe illness and hospitalization, especially those who also have underlying health conditions such as
- heart disease
- diabetes
- asthma and other chronic lung conditions
- chronic liver disease
- kidney disease
- weakened immune system
If you’re an older adult, even if you are otherwise healthy, even if you jog everyday, even if you always get your flu shot: stay home and away from others as much as possible so that you aren’t exposed to the virus.
But there are lots of ways to stay connected and feel close to loved ones, even if we’re physically distant. Head over to the Public Health Insider blog for a list of tips.
Emergency child care for essential workers
Employees who are essential workers under Gov. Jay Inslee’s Stay Home, Stay Healthy order can now access free emergency child care through a King County program to help parents who are working on the front lines of the COVID-19 response. I joined my fellow councilmembers in unanimously approving this program last month.
First responders and essential workers are defined in Inslee’s March 23 Proclamation and include front-line essential medical professionals and support staff, first responders, corrections officers, transit workers, and others.
- If you are an essential worker who lives or works in King County outside the City of Seattle and you are interested in accessing the free emergency child care slots, please call the Child Care Aware of Washington Family Center at 1-800-446-1114 and complete an intake with Family Center staff. After intake, a resources specialist will work to match you with an eligible childcare provider that meets your family needs. The County and its partners are working quickly, and hope to have child care available by mid-April.
- For those essential workers who work or live in Seattle, the City of Seattle is rolling out an Emergency Child Care program to support first responders and essential workers. If you are an essential worker living or working in the City of Seattle, please visit this website to fill out an interest form.
As a reminder, employees who are telecommuting are permitted to take care of their children in the home.
Please note, verification of employment and/or home address will be required to complete intake. To expedite the intake process, please send the required verification documents to subsidy@childcare.org.
Additional helpful and informative links
Today's moment of levity
Are you an art fan and have cabin fever? The Getty Museum in Los Angeles is challenging people to recreate famous works of art while stuck at home. In response, people from around the world are sending in still-life photos of themselves in different poses and attire doing their best to look like a famous portrait of scene. For those of you self-isolating by yourselves, you may want to try a self-portrait. Perhaps Mona Lisa? Larger families can take on the challenge of recreating the Coronation of Napoleon. Either way, have fun and laugh. Click the following link to read more about this unique idea in BuzzFeed News: https://www.buzzfeed.com/louisekhong/getty-museum-challenge-recreate-artwork
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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