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. And see this page for the County’s daily COVID-19 outbreak summary.
Since yesterday’s update, Public Health -- Seattle & King County is reporting these numbers as of this afternoon:
- 261 new positive cases of COVID-19 (81,786 total).
- 8 new COVID-19-related deaths (1,373 total)
- -2 new hospitalizations (data adjustment, 5,088 to date)
On Wednesday, February 24th, Public Health reported:
- 146 new positive cases of COVID-19 (81,525 total).
- 8 new COVID-19-related deaths (1,365 total)
- 7 new hospitalizations (5,090 to date)
On Tuesday, February 23rd, Public Health reported:
- 102 new positive cases of COVID-19 (81,379 total).
- 12 new COVID-19-related deaths (1,357 total)
- 1 new hospitalizations (5,083 to date)
Statewide, according to the DOH, as of today, February 25th:
-Total number of confirmed positive cases is 319,498; the total number of probable cases is 18,155, for a total of 337,653 cases.
- The total number of deaths statewide is 4,942
- The total number of total hospitalizations is 19,224.
COVID AND OTHER UPDATES
Video: Dr. Jeff Duchin, with the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) and UW Medicine on the B.1.351 variant
 On Tuesday, February 23rd, Public Health Officer Dr. Jeff Duchin, in collaboration with the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) and UW Medicine provided updates on the B.1.351 variant identified in Washington State. The B.1.351 variant was first detected in South Africa. You can view the briefing here.
More on the COVID-19 variants -- and what they mean for vaccines
As mentioned above, we just identified our first case of the B.1.351 variant here in Washington. (The arrival in our state of the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the United Kingdom was reported a few weeks ago.) Alaska has just reported its first case of the P.1 variant, first spotted in Brazil. The majority of states have reported positive cases of the new variants (mostly the “UK” variant).
I think it’s safe to say the variants are here. So far, we know they are apparently more easily transmissible. How the variants will react to the vaccines (those already in use and those under development) is still unknown, although that question is being researched now and some of the research suggests the vaccines still provide some protection. However, there is a good deal of concern over the P.1 variant, for reasons explained in this NPR article: Why scientists are very worried about the variant from Brazil.
What this means for all of us is clear. We’re all tired of this pandemic, but we’re at a point now – due to the increased transmissibility of these new variants – where the case numbers could explode if we let down our guard. More and better masking, physical distancing, avoiding gatherings and unnecessary trips - - you know the drill. On the positive side, the supply of vaccines will increase over the next few months, warmer weather will return and this will all start to feel less restrictive - - that is my hope, anyway! Here is more on the new variants:
- US COVID-19 cases caused by variants – CDC (Updated February 23rd)
- Appearance of variants of concern in King County reinforce need to stay vigilant – Public Health Insider Blog (February 23rd)
- Masks are still king in combating new COVID strains – Bothell Reporter
- Number of cases of more worrisome COVID variants increases, raising questions about lockdowns – Geek Wire
- How would COVID-19 vaccine makers adapt to variants? – AP News
- Moderna announces a new version of vaccine in hopes of combating variants – The Seattle Times
- FDA says vaccines adapted for new variants won’t need lengthy clinical trials – The Seattle Times
Tomorrow at 3 p.m. - - Marking one year of COVID-19: A briefing with Executive Constantine and Dr. Duchin
This week marks one year since the first cases of COVID-19 were identified in King County and sadly, our community experienced the first COVID-19 death nationwide. King County Executive Dow Constantine and Dr. Jeff Duchin will reflect on the past year and take questions from reporters tomorrow, Friday, February 26th at 3 p.m. Dr. Duchin will also provide updates on COVID-19 vaccination efforts in King County. The briefing will be livestreamed on the Public Health – Seattle & King County Facebook page @KCPubHealth.
Gov. Inslee: Regions do not need to backtrack right now
Governor Inslee held a press conference this afternoon and announced that “None of the eight regions of Washington’s COVID-19 reopening plan will be going backward toward more restrictions any time soon…”, according to this article in The Seattle Times: Inslee: Washington regions won’t have to backtrack on COVID-19 reopening for now. You can view the full press conference on TVW here.
Public Health Tuesday update to County Council on COVID-19 and vaccination supply
On Tuesday Patty Hayes, Director of Public Health - - Seattle & King County (Public Health) updated the Council on the County’s COVID-19 response, vaccine supply and vaccination efforts. You can view the briefing here, beginning at approximately minute 5:10.
State Department of Health (DOH) press conference and update on COVID-19
This morning, the state DOH and the state Coronavirus Response Joint Information Center held a media briefing to provide an update on the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH, Secretary of Health, state DOH, and other DOH staff and public health leaders. You can view the entire press conference on TVW here.
The frustration of searching for an open vaccination appointment
 As I’m sure you are all aware, it has been tremendously frustrating to try to find an open appointment for a vaccine. The bottom line is the fact that there simply are not enough available vaccine doses to cover everyone who is eligible. In addition, as described in this Seattle Times editorial, our state’s vaccine delivery system is fragmented and extremely difficult to navigate. However, I expect this is the case in most states across the nation, as “standing up” such a complex system from scratch in the middle of a pandemic is certainly not easily done.
The editorial mentions the constituent survey done by my colleague, Council Chair Claudia Balducci, in which about two-thirds of respondents – eligible to receive the vaccine – reported having difficulty finding an appointment.
Here are a couple of articles about attempts to find technological solutions:
- A full court press: Banking on tech backup, CDC launches nationwide VaccineFinder tool – Stat News NOTE: According to the article, ““The site will only include inventory data from 29,000 providers to start, roughly a quarter of the national total. They will include locations in four states — Alaska, Indiana, Iowa, and Tennessee — along with providers registered in the federal pharmacy program. The decision to limit the initial rollout of the tool comes on the heels of several high-profile failures of state sites to enable vaccine location and scheduling, tools that couldn’t manage the crush of millions of people trying to find vaccine information at once.”
- How some frustrated COVID-19 vaccine hunters are trying to fix a broken system – The Seattle Times
- EXPLAINER: Meet the vaccine appointment bots, and their foes – The Seattle Times
Vaccines: From scarcity to “surge?”
It is hard to imagine right now, but in a few months – hopefully by summer – public health officials expect that everyone in the nation who wants a vaccine will be able to get one. And vaccine supply is expected to increase throughout the Spring. The Seattle Times editorial board, while laying out the deficiencies in our state’s vaccine system, urges the state to “Prepare now for vaccine surge,” in the editorial mentioned above. Also, see these articles:
- Vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna pledge massive boost to U.S. supply after sluggish rollout – The Washington Post
- Vaccine supply chain bottlenecks eased, drugmakers tell Congress - Marketplace
- How the U.S. could double vaccination pace with existing supply – The New York Times
- FDA says single-dose shot from J&J prevents severe COVID – The Seattle Times
Introducing Blind COVID, a community resource for blind and low-vision individuals
Funded by a grant from WA Department of Health, Washington State School for the Blind began working on ways to increase awareness of accessible resources related to the COVID-19 pandemic through the creation of BLIND COVID. Blind and low vision individuals can call 360-947-3330 to ask questions regarding access to resources related to COVID-19. No medical advice will be given, as the purpose of the BLIND COVID access line is to provide access to information over the phone that may otherwise be difficult to locate through the web or other means. BLINDCOVID.COM will have additional media and a podcast specifically focused at providing information related to navigating daily life throughout the pandemic.
Video: Black leadership in public health
 Check out this video from Public Health featuring three Black leaders in King County government. All three have dedicated their careers and their lives to working to impact the life outcomes of those who live in King County, especially those who are most in need.
The need for quality, affordable child care – made worse by the pandemic
 I have to admit to doing an eye-roll and murmuring, “Ya think?” to myself when I read this headline in The New York Times: [Fed Chair] Powell says better child care policies might lift women in work force. And I imagine many working mothers – current and former – had similar reactions. Providing quality, affordable child care is crucial for all parents, but especially for women, who tend to earn less and perform more care-giving than men. For working mothers, it is critical. During the pandemic, many facilities have been forced to close – at the same time as learning has gone remote – leaving parents in an even more difficult situation.
Affordable, accessible, quality child care can only become a reality once child care workers are respected, well-trained and receive a living wage. Here are a few resources to help with finding child care during the pandemic:
- Child care support – King County Cultivating Connection blog
- Schools and child care – Public Health
- Kids Plus program – Public Health
Executive Constantine requests $65 million and signs emergency declaration to protect West Point Treatment Plant from power disruptions
 Today, King County Executive Dow Constantine transmitted legislation to the Council and signed an emergency declaration to provide the West Point Treatment Plant with more reliable power in response to increasing power disruptions to the 1.45 million-square-foot facility.
I applaud Executive Constantine for taking swift action to address the power surges and outages that continue to plague the West Point Treatment Plant. Power disruptions have been increasing along with our population and climate disturbances, such as heavy rain events. West Point needs to have a reliable source of power but also the means to protect our public health and water quality in Puget Sound. No one wants to see another catastrophic failure as was experienced at West Point in February of 2017. This is an essential project with an ambitious timeline and, as sponsor of the legislation, I look forward to reviewing it with my colleagues on the Council.
Seattle Against Slavery Youth workshops: Teens wanted
Seattle Against Slavery (SAS) will be hosting a series of workshops over Zoom during the month of March. They will be providing a diverse range of free workshops for youth aged 13-18. However, if you’re interested, you must RSVP. This is a very interesting and interactive way to learn more about human trafficking and advocacy work. Click here for more information.
Councilmembers briefed on County’s Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP)
Councilmembers discussed the Climate Action Toolkit and were briefed on the SCAP. The discussion of the toolkit and the SCAP begin at approximately minute 38:00 and can be viewed here. It was one of the best discussions I’ve heard in my time on the Council.
Black history in action
My colleague, Councilmember Girmay Zahilay, received some well-deserved accolades in this South Seattle Emerald article:Black history today: Girmay Zahilay, a dream manifested.
Executive Constantine’s proposed sixth COVID-19 emergency budget
Executive Constantine transmitted his sixth supplemental budget relating to the COVID-19 pandemic to the Council on last Thursday (COVID 6). The $91 million proposed measure includes $13.9 million to continue funding Public Health’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including testing and contact tracing efforts. The budget also includes $11.2 million to fund King County’s vaccination effort, including high-volume sites and 19 mobile strike teams and $1.9 million for the JustCARE program for providing hotel rooms and wraparound services for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness and behavior health challenges. The legislation will be taken up at the special meeting of the Budget and Fiscal Management Committee on March 10th at 1 p.m. You can read more about the proposed budget here.
I hope to “see” you next Wednesday
 Next Wednesday at 6 p.m. my colleagues Councilmembers Rod Dembowski, Joe McDermott and Girmay Zahilay and I will be hosting a virtual town hall and we want to hear from you! We’ll be covering our County’s vaccination efforts and continued COVID-19 response along with some of the big ideas before the Council in 2021 and your voice is essential. We will be joined by Public Health - Seattle & King County Director Patty Hayes. Click here for more information or to submit questions in advance.
It’s been 20 years…
Since the Nisqually quake shook western Washington and ultimately led to the end of the viaduct:
- Remembering the 6.8 Nisqually earthquake that shook Washington 20 years ago – KING 5
It’s a time I’ll never forget. As a member of the Washington State Senate at the time, I happened to be the only person in the Senate Chamber at the time. I’d gone out to my desk to make a phone call while all other members were in Caucus meetings and even the staff were not at the rostrum. I thought a plane had struck the dome. When I could do so after the rolling motions stopped, I raced out to the wings, saw Ron Sims who’d been visiting, and we clung to one another as we raced down two flights of marble stairs to exit the building. It was a freezing day and I did not have my coat, my car keys, my purse, anything. I was with a few members when the President of the Senate, Brad Owen, adjourned the Senate at the bus stop. I wasn’t able to retrieve my things for several hours with a security guard with a flashlight as the power was out. I could go on and on. Likely most of you will be flashing back to your experience.
DID YOU KNOW?
… that, according to Blackpast.org, the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP) was one of three chapters to open a People’s Free Medical Clinics (PFMC)? Ten additional PFMCs were opened in 1970. The BPP opened the clinics as an alternative to President Johnson’s Great Society community health centers, due to systemic discrimination against blacks in medical practices and hospitals.
The Seattle clinic is the only one of the 13 PFMCs still operating today. Read the full story here on Blackpast.org.
Additional helpful and informative links
- King County vaccination sites reopening after-weather related shutdowns – KING 5 News
- Vaccines, comorbidities, immunity: Answering your COVID questions – Crosscut
- Pfizer, Moderna or maybe J&J? Right now, the best vaccine for you is the one you can get – The Seattle Times
- Seattle will use a UW-developed mapping tool to guide equitable vaccine distribution – The Seattle Times
- Contact-tracing apps help reduce COVID infections, data suggest – Nature Magazine
- People who wear glasses may be up to three times less likely to catch COVID, new study suggest – NY Daily News
- A few new glitches with Seattle’s pop-up vaccine clinic for Latinos - KUOW
- Amid COVID-19 pandemic, flu has disappeared in the US – The Seattle Times
- Backlogged cases push California COVID-19 deaths past 50,000 – AP News
- Disparities faced by Native Americans 'a national disgrace', Quinault president says – KUOW
- Farewell to bras, ‘hard pants’ and business casual: How COVID-19 has changed what we wear and how we feel about clothing - The Seattle Times
- King Co. Council chair: 'Start and lead with the humanity' in addressing homelessness – KNKX
- King County homelessness ‘czar’ candidate turns down job – The Seattle Times
- COVID-19 interrupted a generation of theater artists. Now they wonder what’s next – The Seattle Times
Today’s moment of inspiration
 Photo: The Guardian/robertharding/Alamy
Every Spring in the City of Seville, nearly 50,000 trees drop tons of unused Seville oranges, most of which are left on the ground to rot. The City has launched a pilot project to produce methane from the approximately 35 tons of fermenting fruit to generate clean power for the City’s water plant. According to The Guardian, “While the aim for now is to use the energy to run the water purification plants, the eventual plan is to put surplus electricity back into the grid. The team behind the project… say trials have shown that 1,000kg will produce 50kWh, enough to provide electricity to five homes for one day, and calculate that if all the city’s oranges were recycled and the energy put back into the grid, 73,000 homes could be powered.”
Read the full story here, including the history of this particular fruit, used in marmalade, Cointreau and Grand Marnier.
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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