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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Last week, members of the Board of Health (of which I am one) received a sober briefing from Public Health - Seattle and King County Director Patty Hayes on the status of COVID-19 here in King County. I encourage you to watch the briefing (which begins at the 21-minute mark) here. Director Hayes did not mince words. King County is averaging “well above” the daily target of 40 COVID-19 cases per day.
Our county and state are at a critical juncture. The state Department of Health (DOH) has made clear that community spread must decrease before schools can safely re-open this fall. Last week Gov. Inslee instituted additional restrictions on social gatherings. The only positive note during this time is the fact that data continue to confirm the efficacy of mask-wearing and physical distancing. In other words, our ability to further reopen businesses and to reopen schools depends on the actions and decisions made by each one of us.
The rest of this e-newsletter includes updates on the COVID-19 crisis and other issues. And you can click here to visit the archive page where you can find all of my previous enews updates.
As always, I would like to hear from you. You can call me at 206-477-1004 or you can reach me by email at jeanne.kohl-welles@kingcounty.gov.
All the best and I hope you are staying safe.
COVID-19 UPDATES
Since yesterday’s update, Public Health – Seattle & King County is reporting 180 new positive cases of COVID-19 (13,339 total) and 3 new COVID-19-related deaths (635 total) as of this afternoon. The number of new hospitalizations is 3 (1,806 to date). Of the 9,724 cases in which race and ethnicity information is available, 3,916 of those are white and 5,808 are Black, Indigenous and People of Color.
On Saturday, Public Health reported 184 new positive cases of COVID-19 (12,991 total) and 8 new COVID-19-related deaths (632 total). The number of new hospitalizations was 10 (1,800 total). On Sunday, Public Health reported 168 new positive cases of COVID-19 (13,159 total) and 0 new COVID-19-related deaths (632 total). The number of new hospitalizations was 3 (1,803 total). So, while the number of deaths has been relatively low but fluid, we’re still seeing a relatively high number of new positive cases.
Statewide as of Sunday, July 19th, 920 new cases were reported, bringing the total number of positive cases to 46,946. Three additional deaths were reported, bringing the statewide total to 1,447.
Detailed information about demographics of those who died from COVID-19, as well as on rates of hospitalization, is available on Public Health’s data dashboard where you can click on your zip code for the number of “positive” cases and fatalities where you reside.
And, see newly added data dashboards track COVID- 19 on homelessness data, updated weekly on Thursdays, and syndromic surveillance data, detailing emergency department visits and hospitalizations, updated weekly on Wednesdays.
Real-time COVID-19 data broken down by country and state: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries
Updated list of places open for COVID-19 testing: https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/health/news/2020/May/~/media/depts/health/communicable-diseases/documents/C19/community-health-center-testing-locations.ashx
   
COVID UPDATES
The state Department of Health reports “Mostly bad news, with one glimmer of hope”
According to an update from the state Department of Health (DOH), the Yakima Health Department reported recently that 95% of people in Yakima are wearing a face covering in public. And, not surprisingly, Yakima County is the only place in the state right now where each person who gets COVID-19 on average spreads it to less than one other person (or one person at most).
According to DOH, “Everywhere else in the state is on the path to runaway transmission rates of COVID-19...” The report shows that the number of daily new cases in Washington is higher now than it has ever been and hospitalization rates are rising throughout the state.
Another disturbing trend identified by DOH: “The increase in the number of young adults getting COVID-19 is leading to an increase in the number of children and teens who are getting COVID-19 and threatening to spread broadly into younger and older age groups, as we have seen happen in Florida.”
But the DOH report also emphasizes the good news: The data show that changing our behavior makes a difference.
“Each of us needs to make a conscious shift in the way we live our lives so that we can send our kids back to school in the fall and continue to reopen our businesses.
- Stay home as much as possible.
- Mostly visit virtually. See only a few people in person.
- Stay six feet away from other people.
- Wear a cloth face covering in public.”
Click here to read the full report from DOH.
RACIAL, ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE UPDATES
Making schools, teaching and curricula more equitable
The coronavirus pandemic has exposed glaring inequities throughout our society, including education. It’s more than just the “digital divide” -- although that is a critical problem, especially now. It’s also about curriculum content, how discipline is handled, the lack of Black, Indigenous and other People of Color on school boards and in teaching and administrator positions, and many other issues.
As schools across the country consider how – and whether – to physically safely re-open, we also have the opportunity to make our education system more equitable. The following recent news stories address these questions (I particularly recommend reading the two articles in The Seattle Times and the information on Educational Equity Coalition):
- Teaching changed almost instantly due to COVID-19. How long will it take to revolutionize equity in education? The Seattle Times
- To make education equitable, policy won't cut it. Educators need 'courage to act' - The Seattle Times
- College students will bring racial economic disparities of the pandemic back to campus. Are universities ready? – The Washington Post
- Reimagining Washington’s school year during coronavirus - Crosscut
- Without Wi-Fi, low-income Latino students resorted to doing homework in parking lots to access public hotspots – CBS News
The digital divide is a serious problem, more so during the pandemic than ever before. In King County, 14% of households do not have home access to the Internet—a resource so essential it is called the "electricity of the 21st century." This obviously limits the ability of students to participate in remote learning, which has been essential these last few months. It also significantly limits people's ability to search for and apply to jobs, find basic healthcare information, and access important government services like voter registration and public transit schedules.
For more on the digital divide, see this story on a 2019 study by Pew Research Center.
For information on steps King County is taking to address this issue, see this webpage.
Last month the County Council, led by Councilmembers Girmay Zahilay, Dave Upthegrove and me, included $1 million in the Third Covid Emergency Omnibus Budget to expand Internet access and provide laptops to students who do not currently have either. We also included $500,000 to help out with other residents’ access, such as seniors, those with disabilities, those experiencing homelessness, and those workers who are now unemployed.
Facebook Live Q&A tomorrow, 9 a.m. PT: The Coronavirus Pandemic: Unequal Risks for Communities of Color
The coronavirus pandemic has exposed entrenched health inequities in the U.S. that are propelled by social structures and influenced by factors ranging from housing conditions to transportation options to quality food access. Black Americans are experiencing the highest overall COVID-19 mortality rate in America. And a recent analysis further confirmed the extent of such disparities — with Black Americans, as well as Hispanics and Latinos, carrying a disproportionate burden of years of potential life lost due to the pandemic.
One of the authors of that analysis, Harvard Chan Professor Nancy Krieger, will take your questions about health inequities and the pandemic during a Facebook Live Q&A with The World’s Elana Gordon on July 21 at 9 a.m. PT.
Post your questions for the Q&A on: @ForumHSPH or @pritheworld #coronavirus #COVID-19 Or email them to theforum@hsph.harvard.edu
This Q&A will stream on Facebook and on The Forum website. Presented jointly by The Forum at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and The World from PRX & WGBH
Jam-packed Council meeting tomorrow: Join remotely at 1 p.m.
Tomorrow the King County Council will be meeting remotely at 1 p.m. The meeting agenda is jam- packed as this will be the final meeting of the Council before our annual August recess (August 3- 14), and as there are a lot of important and complex items to be deliberated and voted on.
This will likely be a very lengthy meeting and, in some cases, contentious. The agenda includes an omnibus supplemental budget that I have sponsored as the Council’s Budget Chair, an update to the County’s Comprehensive Plan, a labor agreement between the Amalgamated Transit Union and King County, several measures to be placed on the November ballot (including one to change the selection of the Sheriff by appointment rather than by election) and a very important motion declaring racism a public health crisis in King County.
You can view the complete agenda for tomorrow’s meeting, find out how you can provide public testimony, and tune in to the meeting – which will be streamed live - by clicking this link: https://www.kingcounty.gov/council/committees/full_council.aspx
Additional helpful and informative links
Today’s moment of inspiration
Race for Vashon’s next “Mayor”: Seven candidates, two are four-legged
I couldn’t resist this story and photos from Saturday’s Seattle Times about the race for honorary Mayor of Vashon Island. According to the story by staff photographer Alan Berner, voters pay $1 per vote, and the money raised goes to each candidate’s favorite Island-based charity. Sid Yarkin, a four-month old Jacob sheep, is running an aggressive grassroots campaign. “Sid’s best skills are fertilizer distribution and weed reduction,” according to Joe Yarkin of Sun Island Farm, as quoted in the story.
Photo: Alan Berner, The Seattle Times
Keep in touch
Thank you again for taking the time to read my updates, which I’m sending out on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays - - and sometimes more frequently. 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 safe.
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