COVID-19 UPDATES
Since yesterday’s update, Public Health is reporting as of this afternoon:
- 152 new positive cases of COVID-19 (23,149 total)
- 0 new COVID-19-related deaths (776 total)
- 7 new hospitalizations (2,441 to date)
To view a breakdown of COVID-19 cases by race and ethnicity (updated on Mondays), click this link.
Note: The “Key Indicators” page will now be updated five days a week (instead of only once): https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/health/covid-19/data/key-indicators.aspx
Yesterday, Sunday, October 11th, Public Health reported 174 new positive cases of COVID-19 (24,053 total) and 0 new COVID-19-related deaths (776 total). The number of new hospitalizations was 1 (2,434 total). On Saturday, October 10th, Public Health reported 143 new positive cases of COVID-19 (23,879 total) and 0 new COVID-19-related deaths (776 total). The number of new hospitalizations was 7 (2,433 total). On Friday, October 9th, Public Health reported 150 new positive cases of COVID-19 (23,736 total) and 2 new COVID-19-related deaths (776 total). The number of new hospitalizations was 11 (2,429 total).
Statewide, according to the state Department of Health (DOH), as of yesterday, the total number of positive cases is 93,035. Total number of deaths statewide is 2,190, and total hospitalizations are 7,786.
   
COVID AND OTHER UPDATES
Gov. Inslee extends the eviction moratorium through end of year
Last week Gov. Inslee extended the moratorium on evictions. For more information, see this Seattle Times article: Inslee extends Washington’s moratorium on evictions through Dec. 31. The County Council approved legislation a few months ago approving such a moratorium in the unincorporated areas of the County that will expire next March. As with the state moratorium, it requires tenants enter into an agreement with their landlords on a payment plan. Council Chair Claudia Balducci and Councilmember Girmay Zahilay and I are following the situation and will determine in coming months about extending it further. I’m also working with them on legislation on “just cause” eviction.
Tips for a safe Halloween
 - Halloween tips from Public Health
- Staying safe on Halloween from Department of Health
- King County tips for Halloween (pdf)
Researchers recruiting patients for Regeneron antibody trial
Scientists from UW Medicine and Fred Hutch will test whether a monoclonal drug can prevent infection among people exposed to COVID-19 and they are recruiting study participants.
To qualify for the prevention study, participants must have a confirmed household member test positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Participation involves at least 10 follow-up visits. Visits will be in-person and will include collection of blood and respiratory swab samples, medical history and exams, and monitoring and reporting symptoms. Participants will be reimbursed for their time at the completion of each visit. Call 206.773.7129 for enrollment details or see the website to see if you qualify. For more information on the trial, see this Regeneron news release.
The COVID-19 talk
 In past newsletters, we’ve included articles about the need for open communications among family members, friends, colleagues and others regarding precautions against coronavirus. Here are some helpful articles about navigating these potentially tricky discussions, especially needed right now, ahead of the holidays.
- How to talk to your family about COVID-19, politics and other thorny subjects – The Seattle Times
- It’s time for the talk – Department of Health
- How to talk to your kids about COVID-19 – Mayo Clinic
City of Seattle to launch COVID-19 Disaster Relief Fund for Immigrants
On Thursday, October 15, 2020, the City of Seattle will launch the $7.94 million Seattle COVID-19 Disaster Relief Fund for Immigrants, its newest program to help vulnerable residents who have been both financially impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and purposely excluded by the federal government. The relief fund is open to immigrants who:
- Live in OR attend school in OR work within the Seattle city boundaries, AND
- Meet income eligibility requirements, AND
- Were ineligible for federal CARES Act Economic Impact Payments (also known as a “coronavirus stimulus check”).
The application open period will be from Thursday, October 15, 2020 to November 5, 2020 (three weeks). The application will be available in seven languages other than English: Amharic, Korean, Chinese (Simplified), Somali, Spanish, Tagalog/Filipino, and Vietnamese.
For details on the fund, eligibility requirements and applying, see this page, or visit the Seattle Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs webpage.
Online talk tomorrow: Envy and resentment in the time of coronavirus, October 13th at 6 p.m.
 Join Humanities Washington tomorrow evening for a discussion about dealing with negative emotions and online triggers during the pandemic. As we’ve faced a year of COVID and political and social divisions, some online interactions have become so toxic that taking a break from them has become synonymous with self-care.
Join professor Sara Protasi of the University of Puget Sound for a talk about two emotions: envy and resentment, and how they affect our online interactions—particularly how those feelings are stirred up by other people’s good fortune. To register and for more information, see this page.
Metro’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Report
Since February, the public health, economic, and racial disparity crises caused or worsened by COVID-19 have continued to unfold, and their impact on transportation in King County is ongoing and evolving.
Last week Metro’s Interim General Manager Terry White shared Metro’s “COVID-19 Response and Recovery Report,” which is the first compilation of the actions Metro took to maintain safe and reliable public transportation services during the pandemic and summarizes the agency’s approach to support the region’s future recovery.
Speaking of Metro, it is seeking feedback: Join two of my colleagues and me on Wednesday evening for a Town Hall on Metro service and preparing for the opening of three new Link light rail stations in north Seattle next year
 I hope to you can join Councilmembers Zahilay and Dembowski and me this Wednesday at 6 p.m. for a virtual Town Hall on Metro. Metro is seeking community feedback on improving the current transit network as three new Link light rail stations open in north Seattle next year. Join us to help ensure our transit network continues to be reliable, integrated, and efficient, and for a discussion on how Metro Transit will continue to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Budget Process - - Week Two: Roundtables this week on Justice Policy; Health, Housing and Human Services; Regional Services; and Local Services
The public is welcome to view Roundtable meetings and submit comments
  As I reported in last week’s e-newsletter, the Council’s Budget and Fiscal Management Committee, which I chair, began review of Executive Constantine’s proposed biennial budget last week.
This week is devoted to a series of “Roundtable Meetings,” which will allow Councilmembers to take a more in-depth look at specific budget areas. Each roundtable will be co-led by two Councilmembers and include five Councilmembers in total. The meetings will take place every day this week beginning tomorrow, Tuesday the 13th, through Friday the 16th, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Tomorrow’s Roundtable is focused on Justice Policy and will include discussions and briefings on the Sheriff’s office, adult and juvenile detention, inmate welfare, Superior Court and other areas specific to law and justice. The intention is to continue our decision making on what we will accept and what we will change in the Executive’s proposal.
To view the agenda, other meeting materials, and for instructions on how to access the meeting and provide comment on tomorrow’s roundtable meeting, see this page.
- Wednesday’s Roundtable will focus on Health, Housing and Human Services and will include discussion of the Department of Community and Human Services, housing and community development, behavioral and public health, and other areas specific to health, housing and human services.
To view the agenda, other meeting materials, and for instructions on how to access the meeting and provide comment on Wednesday’s roundtable meeting, see this page.
Materials are not yet available for the Roundtables on Thursday and Friday. Information (including links to the agendas and meeting material and instructions for viewing and providing public comment) for Thursday and Friday will be posted soon. Check the Budget and Fiscal Management Committee webpage or the Council’s Budget webpage for updates.
- Thursday’s Roundtable will focus on the County’s Regional Services, including discussion of the airport, transit, elections, wastewater, parks and solid waste.
- Friday’s Roundtable will focus on Local Services, including road maintenance and construction and permitting.
For more information on the Council’s review process for the Executive’s proposed biennial budget, see this page. For details on upcoming opportunities to comment on the proposed biennial budget, see this page.
We anticipate the budget will be finalized on November 17th but no later than November 24th. Reminder: the public is encouraged to provide input on the budget, see this page for details.
 
Full Council will meet tomorrow at 1 p.m.; The public is welcome
The full Council will meet tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. and will take up a number of important items, including a possible one-tenth of a percent sales and use tax increase for creating a “Health through Housing” program for housing individuals not housed, Metro safety and other issues.
To view the agenda, other meeting materials, and for instructions on how to access the meeting and provide comment, see this page.
Affordable housing week: Online events all week
Affordable Housing Week (AHW) gathers together housing advocates for strategizing new ideas to address King County’s housing crisis. Presented by the Housing Development Consortium, this year’s theme is “Know Your Zone.” In getting to “Know Your Zone,” participants will get to know the housing programs and policies impacting neighbors, businesses, and organizations in your community.”
The week of events kicks off tonight at 7:30, with a livestream presentation on “The History of Housing Segregation Today.” Council Chair Claudia Balducci will be among those speaking. Click on the link for details.
DID YOU KNOW?
… that the original boundary of King County, as defined in 1852, included parts of what are now Snohomish, Kitsap, Jefferson and Mason counties?
Additional helpful and informative links
- How tech helped in the fight against the 1918 flu - Crosscut
- Seven looming questions about the rollout of a Covid-19 vaccine – Stat News
- The US birth rate hit another record low in 2019. Experts fear we're facing a 'demographic time bomb' that could be fast-tracked by the pandemic. - Insider
- Antibody drugs are no cure but seem promising for COVID-19 – The Seattle Times
- CDC expands COVID risk warning to include overweight people – Bloomberg
- Behind the coronavirus outbreak on Greek Row at the University of Washington – KUOW
- Most Washington businesses following mask mandates, but some receive fines, citations – Seattle PI
- COVID-19 long-haulers and the experience of ‘hidden’ disabilities – Stat News
- Coronavirus can persist for four weeks on banknotes, study finds - The Seattle Times
- COVID-19 has shelter providers scrambling to protect homeless people against the coming winter weather – The Seattle Times
- Cities dropping out of King County sales tax could strip more than $18M from homeless housing plan - The Seattle Times
- A Belltown residential treatment facility shutters, leaving a hole in King County’s mental health system - The Seattle Times
- Washington state children with disabilities are left behind by remote learning - The Seattle Times
- Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo reserves time during COVID-19 for visitors with disabilities who can’t wear masks – The Seattle Times
- With gun deaths up in Seattle, leaders ask how 'to bring us together' – KUOW
Today’s moment of inspiration
 Photo from CNN.com
CNN reports on Mitchell Couch, a father in California who figured out how to easily build DIY student desks for about $20 apiece. He built two desks for his own kids to help with remote learning, and posted them on social media. He was inundated with messages from people seeking detailed instructions, so he made a YouTube video.
According to CNN, “A couple days later as word continued to spread, the local grocery outlet offered to fund the supplies if Couch could build desks for other students in the school district who needed their own space to learn. Couch happily agreed and one week later -- with the help of his family -- he had built 40 desks”
“Couch, who works full-time as a building inspector for the city of Corcoran, says the messages of gratitude from teachers, parents, students and grandparents are what keep him going.
"If I can help the community get through this pandemic with some wood and nails, you bet I will keep at this," he said.”
Keep in touch
Thank you again for taking the time to read my updates, which I am now sending out on Mondays and Thursdays. Feel free to forward them to others who can subscribe by clicking here. And you can click here to visit the archive page where you can find all of my previous enews updates.
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