COVID-19 UPDATES
To view a breakdown of COVID-19 cases by race and ethnicity (updated on Mondays), click this link. Click here to view the “Key Indicators” data dashboard.
Since yesterday’s update, Public Health -- Seattle & King County is reporting these numbers as of this afternoon:
- 521 new positive cases of COVID-19 (73,445 total).
- 8 new COVID-19-related deaths (1,206 total)
- 21 new hospitalization (4,664 to date)
- On Wednesday, January 20th, Public Health reported 324 new positive cases of COVID-19 (72,924 total) and 13 new COVID-19-related deaths (1,198 total). The number of new hospitalizations was 26 (4,643 total).
- On Tuesday, January 19th, Public Health reported 618 new positive cases of COVID-19 (72,600 total) and 6 new COVID-19-related deaths (1,185 total). The number of new hospitalizations was 24 (4,617 total).
January 21 data note from DOH: Negative test results data from November 21-30, 2020, and from January 2 through today, are incomplete. Thus, the number of negative test results and percent positivity (testing tab) should be interpreted with caution.
The high number of new deaths is due to a data processing backlog cleared today from January 14-20, 2021.
Statewide, according to the DOH, as of today, with the caveats mentioned above, the total number of confirmed positive cases is 283,188. The total number of probable cases is 12,899, for a total of 296,087 cases. The total number of deaths statewide is 4,065, and total hospitalizations are 16,939.
   
COVID AND OTHER UPDATES
New administration plans “…full-scale wartime effort” against COVID-19
 Photo: Yahoo News/Getty images
The new administration spent its first full day in office apparently focused on COVID-19. The new president signed several pandemic-related executive orders to “aggressively” increase and speed-up the national response. The executive orders include directions to restore the Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense at the National Security Council, rejoin the World Health Organization (WHO) and issue a “100-day Masking Challenge.”
See the following resources and news articles on new federal plans for combatting COVID-19:
- Overview of the new federal National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness – White House website
- Download pdf of the full National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness – White House website
- Biden signs burst of virus orders, vows 'Help is on the way' – AP News
- Biden rolls out ‘full-scale, wartime’ coronavirus strategy, including requiring masks on some planes, trains and buses. – The New York Times
- Biden launches sweeping COVID-19 changes on first full day in White House - Reuters
- U.S., staying in WHO, to join COVID vaccine push for poor nations: Fauci - Reuters
- Biden proposes a science-led New Deal to end pandemic suffering – Science Magazine
- Biden unveils Covid-19 plan based on 'science not politics' as he signs new initiatives - CNN
- Biden dissolves Covid-19 panel that advised his transition – Stat News
- The nine biggest challenges Biden will face on COVID-19, from today on – Stat News
News on COVID-19 variants
- COVID: New strain, variant or mutation? What’s the difference? - MSN
- Emerging coronavirus variants may pose challenges to vaccines – The New York Times
- Pfizer vaccine protects against new COVID variants, study suggests – The Guardian
- First case of new COVID strain found in Oregon – The Oregonian
- Some COVID-19 mutations may dampen vaccine effectiveness – The Seattle Times
- What we now know — and don’t know — about the coronavirus variants – Stat News
- Fauci: Vaccinations will help coronavirus variants from emerging - CNN
Gov. Inslee press conference today
Governor Jay Inslee held a press conference this afternoon at the State Capitol to give an update on the 2021 legislative session and the state's response to the ongoing pandemic. The Governor was joined by Michele Roberts, Acting Assistant Secretary for Prevention and Community Health, DOH, and Nick Streuli, Executive Director of External Affairs, Office of the Governor. DOH Secretary Dr. Umair Shah also joined the conference and he, the Governor, and Michelle Roberts took several questions on vaccine supply, allocations and distribution.
Jay Carney, Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Affairs at Amazon, also joined. He announced the company is working with Virginia Mason to set up a pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinic Seattle on Sunday morning, as covered in this Seattle Times article: Amazon aims to vaccinate 2,000 Seattleites on Sunday.
You can view the full press conference on TVW here.
Updated message from Public Health regarding return to in-person learning
 Dr. Jeff Duchin, Health Officer for Public Health - - Seattle & King County, yesterday posted this updated message about the return to in-person learning.
You may also be interested in this coverage from KUOW: Bellevue says it will use non-union staff to reopen schools as labor conflict intensifies.
King County Director of Public Health Patty Hayes and Dr. Duchin briefed Council on vaccines Tuesday
 Public Health – Seattle & King County Director Patty Hayes and Dr. Jeff Duchin, Health Officer, updated the County Council at our regular meeting on Tuesday this week on the status of vaccines and vaccinations in the County. A video of the full Council meeting is available here; the presentation from Public Health begins at approximately minute 14:40.
Video updates on the County’s COVID-19 response
- VIDEO: Update on COVID response by Dwight Dively, King County Budget Director, to the County Council’s Committee of the Whole, yesterday, January 20th
- VIDEO: Executive Dow Constantine joins Simone Del Rosario of Q13 to discuss how to distribute King County vaccinations to most residents by June. You may be interested in tuning into KUOW-94.9 NPR FM on Tuesdays at 12:06 - 12:30 p.m. to hear Executive Constantine report on what’s going on at the County and take questions.
REMINDER – Tomorrow at 9 a.m.: The COVID-19 vaccine rollout: COVID-19 & Racial Inequities
The Forum at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, NPR (National Public Radio) and the UW are hosting a panel looking at the vaccine rollout and racial inequities. The discussion will take place tomorrow, January 22nd at 9 a.m. PST and will be live streamed on Facebook and on The Forum website. There is no registration required to watch the event online.
Send questions for the panelists in advance or during the Q&A: theforum@hsph.harvard.edu or post them to @ForumHSPH
Also, coming up next week: The Forum at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health will present a discussion on Mental Health in the Time of COVID-19 with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). The event will be held next Wednesday, January 27th at 10 a.m. PT.
Detecting COVID-19 in wastewater
Photo from UW: Postdoctoral researcher Raymond RedCorn and research technician John Carter, from left, set-up an autosampler to collect wastewater from a utility hole.
This fascinating article and video about using data from wastewater to fight the coronavirus comes from the UW’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.
Letters of Interest for youth sports grants due January 27 at noon
The King County Parks Department is seeking applications for its Youth Sports grants. The deadline for Letters of Interest is next Wednesday, January 27th at noon. You can find the grant program guidelines (PDF) here. The grants fund both capital projects and programs. Apply through the online grant portal. (Note: This page is scheduled for maintenance downtime Saturday 1/23 at 9 p.m. PST until 5 a.m. PST on Sunday 1/24.)
Office of Homeless Youth seeking Steering Committee members
The Office of Homeless Youth in the Washington State Department of Commerce is seeking caregivers of homeless youth and youth lived experts to serve on a Steering Committee to develop a statewide strategy for the organization.
OHY plans to have ten sessions, each lasting three to four hours. Participants will be paid $150 for each session. If you have any questions, please reach out to sl.rao@commerce.wa.gov or by phone 360-764-0049.
Northwest African American Museum (NAAM) releases new video: Stick with Love: A Virtual King Day Celebration
 NAAM has released an updated video from its 2021 Virtual King Day Program - - performances, speeches from dignitaries, music and more celebrating the life & legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. View the video here.
DID YOU KNOW?
... that, during storms in the U.K. in July of 1968, hailstones the size of tennis balls fell in Cardiff, blood-red rain covered Southern England and four people died? According to Wikipedia, the “…thunderstorms were the most severe dust fall thunderstorms in the British Isles for over 200 years. A layer of mineral dust blowing north from the Sahara met cold, wet air over the British Isles… These clouds completely blotted out the light in some areas and the rain and hail resulted in property damage and flooding, and at least four people were killed.” See the citations and read the full article here.
Additional helpful and informative links
- U.S. COVID vaccine supply: How to make sense of those confusing numbers – The New York Times
- One year, 400,000 coronavirus deaths: How the U.S. guaranteed its own failure – The New York Times
- Five killed in blaze at Indian producer of COVID-19 vaccine – The Seattle Times
- Opinion: Who goes first? Government leaders and prioritization of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines – New England Journal of Medicine
- Lilly: Drug can prevent COVID-19 illness in nursing homes – AP News
- COVID vaccine: WHO warns of 'catastrophic moral failure' - BBC
- Hurdles persist as Washington state plans for mass vaccination sites – Q13
- Leaders ask for operations plan on King County vaccine rollout – KIRO 7
- King County Council to introduce push for accelerated vaccine roll-out – Q13
- Washington state’s website, PhaseFinder tool falter under crush of interest in COVID-19 vaccinations – The Seattle Times
- ‘Losing precious months’: What isolation and lack of touch mean for Washington residents with dementia and their families - The Seattle Times
- Could a smell test screen people for COVID? – The New York Times
- Dentists to be part of the coronavirus vaccination effort in Washington state – The Seattle Times
- The arts are in crisis. Here’s how Biden can help. – The New York Times
- Seattle tops nation for COVID-19-era increase in online spending - The Seattle Times
- Teetering on the brink of extinction: New report shows Washington’s salmon remain at risk – Seattle PI
- Mutual aid networks help those in need while creating bonds that strengthen us all – The Seattle Times
- King County implements 0.01% sales tax to raise money for housing the homeless – Renton Reporter
- What Dr. Ben Danielson’s resignation meant to Seattle - Crosscut
- Seattle Now: Uniting a divided America won't be easy - KUOW
Today’s moment of inspiration
 Photo from CNN/ Stephanie Woods-McKinney
CNN is reporting on several individuals across the country who have chosen to use their stimulus payments to help others - - even when some of them are struggling themselves. The article profiles a teacher in Pennsylvania who provides Uber Eats gift cards for some of his students and their families; a retired couple in Illinois who give their stimulus check to staff at the local animal shelter; a New Yorker who donates her stimulus check to help homeless seniors; and an unemployed New Jersey man who used the last stimulus check (and some of his own funds) to purchase more than 30,000 masks and distribute them to homeless shelters, churches and food banks - - and there are more examples. Read the full story – and see the video – here.
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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