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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Gov. Inslee just announced recommendations to school districts across the state regarding reopening. Except for five counties, the Governor warned that on-site classes are not safe for the majority of students in Washington state, including in King County. See this story in The Seattle Times for more information on the announcement. The Governor’s recommendations vary according to the number of positive cases in each county, age of the students, and consideration of high-risk and special-needs students. The new recommendations go hand-in-hand with the school reopening requirements issued earlier by the state’s Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Also, see this article from The Seattle PI: How many WA students will arrive infected with COVID-19 if schools open? Here’s a breakdown.
I also want to remind you that the County Council is currently on recess. Though I am available during this time (not about to travel during this time of the pandemic), it may take a bit longer to get a response if you call or email my office. I’m trying to get a lot of hiking in but am keeping close watch on my email. In addition, we will only be sending out the e-newsletter on Mondays and Wednesdays this week and the next.
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 (Public Health) is reporting 167 new positive cases of COVID-19 (15,946 total) and 0 new COVID-19-related deaths (657 total) as of this afternoon. The number of new hospitalizations is 8 (1,992 to date). Of the 11,607 cases in which race and ethnicity information is available, 4,570 of those are white and 7,037 are Black, Indigenous and People of Color.
Yesterday, Public Health reported 145 new positive cases of COVID-19 (15,779 total) and 1 new COVID-19-related death (657 total). The number of new hospitalizations was 1 (1,984 total).
Statewide, according to the state Department of Health, as of Tuesday, August 4th, the total number of positive cases was 60,084. Total number of deaths statewide was 1,624, and total hospitalizations were 5,840.
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.
Note: The graphs we usually include are not available today. We apologize for any inconvenience.
COVID UPDATES
Greater Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network (SCAN) study releases updated findings
The Greater Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network (SCAN) released its latest technical report which contains findings with implications for King County’s response to the ongoing pandemic. SCAN is a public health surveillance program for infection from SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID-19—that offers free testing of home-collected samples in greater Seattle and King County. The study is designed to help understand the COVID-19 outbreak more completely and, together with other data sources, inform public health decisions.
Among the key findings:
- A large proportion of SCAN participants who test positive for COVID-19 report that they are unaware of having recently been in close contact with someone who tested positive for the virus.
- Participants who report symptoms of COVID-like illness are more likely to test positive.
- While mask usage has increased over time, rates appear to be stalling below universal compliance. Trading social distancing for mask use is counterproductive for COVID-19 prevention. The best way to protect each other when we must go out is to maintain at least six feet of distance from others and to always wear a mask.
For a complete summary of the findings from Public Health -- Seattle & King County (Public Health), see this article from the Public Health Insider blog.
Public Health – Seattle-King County announces Monday Mask Challenge - #MaskMonday
Public Health -- Seattle & King County (Public Health) is encouraging everyone to send in - and post to their personal networks - photos of themselves in masks for “Mask Mondays.” Staff will be posting some of their favorites at #MaskMondays.
According to Public Health Director Patty Hayes, “… wearing masks every day is vital to slowing the spread of COVID so this challenge is about starting the week out right. Mondays are a good day to reset and remember to have your masks on as you go out throughout the week!”
Public Health asks that as you’re posting mask photos or videos on your accounts, please tag them at @kcpubhealth and add the hashtag #MaskMonday.
Reminder: Free COVID testing available in Seattle and King County
Free COVID tests are available at sites in Seattle and King County. They are open to anyone who cannot access a test through their regular health care provider, regardless of immigration or insurance status. Language interpretation services are available at all locations at no cost. See this page to find the testing site near you.
Seattle Met: Seattle’s coronavirus timeline, from toilet paper to mask laws
 Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash
I highly recommend this very comprehensive look back at the past seven months. The timeline includes developments beginning with the identification in January of the first case in the nation in Snohomish County, to official announcements, community activities and public health milestones through July 24th. It’s in a way a chronicle of what we’ve been going through, at least by the calendar.
Former Metro drivers to be first of the County’s new COVID Health Ambassadors
King County is launching a new COVID Health Ambassador Program next week to offer community outreach, education and health promotion resources to prevent COVID-19 transmission.
The first ambassadors already know King County: they are former METRO bus drivers redeployed to engage and inform neighborhood and community groups on the importance of social distancing, wearing facial coverings, practicing healthy hand hygiene, and observing phase-appropriate business and gathering standards.
Reduced ridership and revenues to King County and METRO have resulted in reductions to some services and layoffs for some METRO bus drivers. The COVID Health Ambassador recruitment is now underway to identify and provide a choice for continued County employment for employees whose jobs will be, or have been, eliminated due to COVID-related economic conditions.
For details on the new program, see this page.
JUSTICE UPDATES: RACIAL, ECONOMIC, ENVIRONMENTAL, CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Upcoming training for young people on preventing human trafficking and gender-based violence
Young people are invited to join Seattle Against Slavery (SAS) and King County’s Zero Youth Detention program for an upcoming workshop. Young people with an interest in the anti-trafficking movement are encouraged to participate. The workshop will engage young people in important conversations about activism, social justice, policy, and accountability. Participants will learn about efforts to end the sex trafficking of children and young adults and how they can get involved.
The upcoming workshop on August 17th at 3 p.m. will focus on men’s accountability and preventing gender-based violence. It will be led by SAS’s Men’s Accountability Director, Eli Zucker. There will be additional workshops in the future.
If you are interested in attending or need more information, email kayla@seattleagainstslavery.org.
Being anti-racist doesn’t always require immediate action, according to Professor Ralina Joseph
 Prof. Ralina Joseph, UW magazine
An article in the University of Washington Magazine profiles a community-based project led by Professor Ralina Joseph and a small group of graduate students. The program, focused in the Central District, explores power, privilege and difference in society. The team works with community members ranging from high school students to retirees, the majority of them Black.
Professor Joseph advocates a new way to amplify and learn from often-unheard voices around issues of race and injustice: Radical Listening.
The project, funded by a Mellon/American Council of Learned Societies fellowship, evolved out of an “Interrupting Privilege” seminar that Joseph created in partnership with the UW Alumni Association to bring together students and community members for intergenerational conversations about race, racism and their intersections.
Get more details on this approach and read the full story here.
OTHER UPDATES
State Commerce Department to distribute $100 million in rental assistance
The Washington State Department of Commerce is distributing approximately $100 million in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding beginning this month. Service providers in each county are currently setting up the distribution programs.
The program will focus on preventing evictions by paying up to three months of past due, current and future rent to landlords for eligible participants. Rent assistance is limited to three months and the program ends Dec. 31, 2020. However, Commerce cautions, “The available funds will not meet the demand for assistance.”
A recent survey showed that 17% of renters in our state missed their July rent payment. Since February, the state’s employment has declined 12% – over twice that of the worst point in the Great Recession – and use of basic food assistance programs has increased by 15%.
Equity is a primary program goal, with a focus on groups of people who historically have not been provided equitable access to rent assistance and those who have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. Program information is on this Commerce web page.
King County’s Local Food Finder app helps you support local farms and find fresh produce – and more - near you
King County has made it easier to find fresh produce, berries, flowers, cheese and more near you. The Local Food Finder app is an interactive map the provides a convenient way to get fresh produce, flowers, meat, and more delivered from local farms. Customers may also place an online order for pick up directly at the farm. This initiative aims to support local farms hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic that has disrupted farmers’ markets and restaurant sales.
In addition, several Seattle and King County farmers’ markets are open this summer (with special COVID operating procedures), and some offer order and pick up service. See this guide The Stranger put together last month.
Additional helpful and informative links
- BREAKING: Unsafe for most students to return to classrooms, Gov. Inslee says – The Seattle Times
- Inslee recommends high-risk WA counties use distance learning, cancel all extracurricular activities -Seattle PI
- Washington state proposes new unemployment benefits formula as federal dollars dry up – KUOW
- COVID-19: Not all patients develop protective antibodies – Medical Xpress/Medical University of Vienna
- Gov. Inslee extends utility shutoff moratorium to Oct. 15th – Crosscut
- Wanted: young people to work the polls this November – NPR
- Vulnerable Navajo Nation fears a second COVID-19 wave – NBC News
- Space Needle reopens to visitors after host of coronavirus-related upgrades – The Seattle Times
- Your 2020 flu shot strategy: get yours early in the season - KUOW
- Turmoil after a Seattle museum deletes ‘black lives matter’ from postings - The New York Times
- Can you get the coronavirus from secondhand smoke? - The Seattle Times
- Keep your social circle small. Very small. – Washington state Department of Health
- WA school mascot draws Native family into decades-long fight - Crosscut
- The long, bloody strike for ethnic studies - NPR
- Op-Ed: We’ve Hit a Pandemic Wall - The New York Times
- Yale student sues university claiming online courses were inferior, seeks tuition refund, class action status – The Hartford Courant
- In the 75 years since Hiroshima, nuclear testing killed untold thousands - The Washington Post
- Stay away from these 115 hand sanitizers, F.D.A. warns - The New York Times
- ‘Too many are selfish’: U.S. nears 5 million virus cases - The Seattle Times
Today’s moment of inspiration
‘Caesar the No Drama Llama’ calms tensions at protests
A therapy llama named Caesar has been showing up at protests in Oregon and helps calm both protesters and police, according to this article in The Washington Post.
The article quotes Caesar’s caretaker, Larry McCool of Jefferson, Oregon: “When people meet Caesar, they tend to melt in his calm presence.”
As the article explains, Caesar has become quite well known. “So far this year, Caesar and McCool have attended 10 Black Lives Matter protests in Oregon, including five in Portland’s epicenter… In recent years, they have attended more than 50 marches in support of a variety of civil and environmental causes.”
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. Although, as a reminder, we will not be sending an enewsletter out this Friday, August 7th, or the following Friday, August 14th, due to the County Council recess. Feel free to forward them to others who can subscribe by clicking here.
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