COVID-19 UPDATES
Public Health -- Seattle & King County is reporting these numbers as the update for Monday, March 15th and Sunday, March 14th as of this afternoon:
- 272 new positive cases of COVID-19 (84,303 total)
- 0 new COVID-19-related deaths (1,437 total)
- 5 new hospitalizations (5,180 to date)
On Saturday, March 13th, Public Health reported:
- 225 new positive cases of COVID-19 (84,031 total).
- 2 new COVID-19-related deaths (1,437 total)
- 9 new hospitalizations (5,175 to date)
On Friday, March 12th, Public Health reported:
-153 new positive cases of COVID-19 (83,806 total)
-6 new COVID-19-related deaths today (1,435 total)
Statewide, according to the DOH, as of March 13th:
-Total number of confirmed positive cases is 328,975; the total number of probable cases is 20,450, for a total of 349,425 cases.
- The total number of deaths statewide is 5,123
- The total number of hospitalizations is 19,830
COVID AND OTHER UPDATES
 Photo: The Seattle Times
Lumen Field Vaccination Center opens
Vaccination efforts continue to be underway, and it is especially gratifying that the largest civilian-run vaccination center in the country officially opened at Lumen Field this weekend. On its first day, this location administered 2,160 doses. To check on the statewide vaccination efforts, please take a look at the Department of Health’s Vaccine Dashboard.
March 12th Update from the State Department of Health
On Friday, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) released the latest statewide situation report on COVID-19.
Report findings include:
- Case counts have increased slightly in western Washington and plateaued in eastern Washington as of late February.Case counts are still relatively high across the state—around the same level we were seeing last October when the third wave of disease activity was ramping up. Plateauing or increasing at these high levels is concerning. We want to see these numbers continue to decline.
- Most counties have seen declines in case counts since the first week of January, but cases have flattened in several counties and are starting to increase again in others.Six of 39 counties had rates above 200 new cases per 100,000 people over the two-week period ending on Feb. 25. No counties had rates above 500 new cases per 100,000 people.
- Cases are increasing among younger adults aged 20-29 and 30-39.This has previously been an early warning sign of larger surges in the general population. Case counts in other age groups were declining, but have now flattened. As more people who are 60 and older get vaccinated, we expect to see a more rapid decline in cases in this population.
- We are seeing sharp declines in hospital admission rates among people 70 and older, possibly because those groups are among the first to get vaccinated.Admissions have declined at different rates depending on the age group. Overall, hospital admissions have flattened in eastern Washington and continue to decline in western Washington.
- COVID-19 transmission is continuing at about the same level after declines through January and February.The best estimate of the reproductive number (how many new people each COVID-19 patient will infect) in the state on Feb. 19 was 0.96. The goal is to maintain a reproductive number well below one—meaning COVID-19 transmission is declining—for a substantial amount of time.
- The estimated prevalence (percentage of people with active COVID-19 infections) began to plateau in early February after declines in January.High prevalence means there are a lot of people with infections who may need health care and could be spreading the virus to others. The best model-based prevalence estimate as of Feb. 19 was 0.11%.
More information from DOH is available here.
Dr. Jeff Duchin, the Chief Public Health Officer for King County, addressed the County on Friday to give an update on COVID. That video is available to stream here.
 Photo: The Seattle Times
Hundreds rally in solidarity against hate crimes targeting AAPI community
This past weekend, hundreds of people gathered in Seattle’s Chinatown International District to stand in solidarity with the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been an alarming increase in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans throughout the country. You can read more about the demonstration and the speeches from Saturday here. On this same issue, a group of researchers from across the nation (and including UW School of Social Work Associate Dean David Takeuchi) have been tracking and exploring data around these incidents. Read more about their research here.
Families call for the resignation of KC Sheriff
On Friday, relatives of Mi’Chance Dunlap-Gittens, Giovann Joseph-McDade, Leonard Thomas, and Che Taylor -- all Black men killed by police -- called for the resignation of King County’s elected sheriff and the firing of a deputy after he shared offensive social media posts. The anguish these families, and too many others, experience is unimaginable. I appreciate that Executive Constantine has asked for further information from the Sheriff as to the rationale for how the deputy was disciplined and his later promotion. In the interest of increasing accountability and due to approval by the voters, the KC Sheriff will be an appointed position rather than elected as of 1/1/2022, with the appointment process set to take place later this year. In fact, just last Tuesday the Council approved the appointees for the community advisory committee that will help select the new appointed sheriff.
You can read the full article here: Relatives of Black males killed by police call for King County sheriff’s resignation, deputy’s firing –The Seattle Times
 Will the child tax credit drastically reduce child poverty?
With the passage of President Biden's American Rescue Plan Act and his signing it into law last Thursday, the child tax credit has been expanded significantly. That credit, in combination, is expected to target child poverty in the United States in "the most substantial way in modern history." If you have 45 minutes, consider listening to this segment discussing the child tax credit and what it will mean for families in poverty.
 A Year of Pandemic: COVID 19 changed our lives forever
We all have experiences of struggle from the last year, and The Seattle Times put together a project chronicling our many experiences and the way our world has changed. I found it to be a very interesting read. You can read the full article here: A Year of Pandemic: COVID 19 changed our lives forever
Additional helpful and informative links
Today’s moment of inspiration: The Kraken are coming!
A couple of weeks ago, Councilmember Rod Dembowski and I had the opportunity to tour the Seattle Kraken's headquarters in Northgate. This NHL facility will include three hockey rinks as well as a new park, a restaurant, a bar, a health clinic, and offices. One rink will be for our new NHL Team, The Kraken, one for youth and amateur hockey, and one for the public. The entire facility is scheduled to open this summer.
The whole operation was very impressive and I was very pleased to hear about the community programs and events that are already envisioned for the space! I’m especially excited about the programs that are being developed to work with school kids in nearby schools. I can already imagine the many field trips that will take place here when it’s safe to do so. Also, the new Climate Pledge Arena, being constructed at the former KeyArena at the Seattle Center, will be open in the fall with the first hockey games beginning likely in November. The Climate Pledge Arena also recently shared this video on women in construction. Everything about this is so exciting!
A quote to leave you with…
“The challenge is not to be perfect. It’s to be whole.” -Jane Fonda
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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