COVID-19 Update: Looking Toward Economic Recovery

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Councilman Dunn Banner

Your Update on What's Happening at the King County Council  

Dear Friends and Neighbors:

For many of us, the state of jobs and our economy is at the forefront of our minds. While some financial relief has been coming in, I believe that its absolutely critical that we start planning for how to safely re-open our economy when they start loosening social distancing mandates.

I’ve been working on my own ideas to help economic recovery:

First, I’ve been working closely with the Renton Mayor Armondo Pavone to develop a plan to attract companies that developing COVID-19 vaccines to site their manufacturing facilities in Renton. Renton has a robust and well-trained workforce of 54,000 and is home to Boeing’s 737 plant, the most efficient manufacturing operation in the world, and PACCAR, a Fortune 500 truck manufacturer. It is also just five miles from the nation’s 8th largest airport and close to two of the nation’s largest ports. If successful, this would provide a substantial boost to our local economy—and give our region a leading role in the creation of a lifesaving vaccine.

Second, I’ve introduced legislation that would create the CuRE (Coronavirus Recovery Economic) Task Force to plan for economic recovery. This Task Force would be made up of leaders from our local industries, businesses, and governments with a mandate to work together to help revitalize our economy. I will update you on any developments as this legislation moves through the Council’s legislative process.

I’d like to close with an encouraging data point: New modeling from the Institute for Disease Modeling in Bellevue is showing that the average COVID-19-infected person is likely to infect just one or fewer additional persons, down from an average of 2.7 persons in late February. In short: the spread of COVID-19 is slowing. Public Health is encouraging everyone to sustain our social distancing efforts so we can continue to suppress transmissions of the virus—and return to normal life as soon as possible.

I hope you enjoy your weekend, and as always—stay healthy.

Best regards,

Reagan Dunn signature

 

 

Reagan Dunn
Vice Chair
Metropolitan King County Council


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