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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
If you’re reading this before or shortly after 7 p.m., I encourage you to tune in to tonight’s virtual Ballard District Council meeting by clicking the following link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzzSxAgqbNTe9gVjbyg-idQ The event will be streamed on the Ballard District Council’s YouTube channel.
I will be joining an online panel of local leaders, including Seattle City Councilmember Daniel Strauss, to provide pandemic-related updates and what the County and City have been doing to address this crisis and the corresponding economic fallout from both a financial and a public health perspective. There will also be a community questions and answers session. I’m looking forward to participating and answering your questions. See you there!
In case you missed it. Yesterday, the Council took action on a $60 million emergency COVID-19 spending plan I sponsored as the Council’s Budget Chair. The legislation provides funding for a variety of programs, including funding to respond to youth homelessness; relief for small businesses; expanded funding for the Community Development Block Grant; increased capacity for newly added isolation and quarantine facilities; support for the hard-hit tourism and creative sector (arts, culture, heritage, science and music) venues in order to attract visitors back to fill our convention and events centers, hotels, restaurants, and, in doing so, bring jobs back as well as very needed revenue to fund our essential services.
The plan passed unanimously. You can read more about it and our deliberations in an article from the Seattle Times by clicking the following link: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/king-county-council-approves-60-million-for-coronavirus-response-small-business-help/
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 helpful information related to the COVID-19 crisis. You can read previous updates I sent out on an archive page so you can find any information you may have missed. I have been sending updates every day since March 1 (sometimes more than one in a day). Click here to visit the archive page.
As always, I would like to hear from you. Please do not hesitate to contact my office if you have any questions or comments. You can call me at 206-477-1004 or you can reach me by email at jeanne.kohl-welles@kingcounty.gov.
All the best,
Latest numbers from Public Health
Since yesterday’s update, Public Health is reporting 42 new positive cases of COVID-19 in King County (7,221 total) and 3 new COVID-19-related deaths (514 total). Good to see a dip in the numbers. But, so sad to see we have lost three more to this awful virus.
As of May 10, there were 17,330 confirmed COVID-19 cases statewide and 962 related deaths. These are up 208 cases and 17 deaths from the last reporting (Note: We do not receive the statewide data daily in time to include in our daily enews.)
Detailed information about demographics of those who died from COVID-19 are available on Public Health’s 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
   
Have COVID-19 symptoms? Get tested!
Public Health – Seattle & King County is now recommending that anyone who has COVID-19 symptoms or close contact with someone who has COVID-19 be tested right away. Testing as soon as possible after symptoms appear is important to prevent COVID-19 from spreading to family, friends, and the community.
Previously, due to supply shortages, Washington state prioritized testing for people most at risk for severe illness, health care providers and first responders. Now, Washington State Department of Health has expanded the criteria for who should be tested, and supplies of testing kits and personal protective equipment are increasing. Click the following link to learn more from Public Health’s Public Health Insider Blog: https://publichealthinsider.com/2020/05/12/covid-19-testing-is-increasingly-available-in-king-county/
Webinar on trauma and COVID-19 in black communities: Tuesday, May 19th
Please join Black AIDS Institute, Multicultural AIDS Coalition, House of Blahnik Southern AIDS Coalition, and Harvard CFAR in a webinar entitled, “Conversations on COVID-19 and Black Communities: How Generations of Trauma Fuel COVID-19.” During this webinar, the speakers will engage in a discussion on historical trauma, healing, and restoring wellness in Black communities. Register: https://bit.ly/c19-s4
Additional helpful and informative links
Today's moment of levity
Like many of you, I miss visiting the Woodland Park Zoo. There’s not much better on a Spring day than strolling the grounds and enjoying the beautiful exhibits. Fortunately, even though there aren’t any visitors right now at the Zoo, the animals are in good hands. I really enjoyed this article from the Seattle Times about the primary keeper and caretaker of the Zoo’s Humboldt penguins. For them, she’s their alpha and keeps them well fed and well loved. Enjoy the article by clicking the link (I enjoyed the pictures the most): https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/alpha-penguin-celine-pardo-keeps-woodland-park-zoos-41-humboldts-healthy-and-happy/
Keep in touch
Thank you again for taking the time to read my update. You can expect these 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 mark this email address as a “safe sender” 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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