COVID-19 UPDATES
Public Health -- Seattle & King County is reporting the numbers below as the update for today, March 25th. Unfortunately, we’re continuing to see the higher positive cases. See below for more information.
- 336 new positive cases of COVID-19 (86,373 total)
- 2 new COVID-19-related deaths (1,458 total)
- 10 new hospitalizations (5,251 to date)
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.
Statewide Case Count, as of yesterday, March 24th:
-Total number of confirmed positive cases is 335,606; the total number of probable cases is 21,893, for a total of 357,499 cases.
- The total number of deaths statewide is 5,200
- The total number of hospitalizations is 20,233
COVID AND OTHER UPDATES
COVID cases are increasing in King County
Unfortunately we have seen rising cases in the last few weeks, especially among younger adults between the ages of 20 and 40. With individuals in older age groups getting vaccinated, we have not seen the same increases in hospitalizations or deaths, but that is no reason to take it less seriously! With vaccines on the horizon, I know it may be tempting to relax our precautions, but it’s vital that King County residents continue physical distancing and following COVID-19 precautions diligently. UW, led by epidemiologist Dr. Judith Malmgren, recently published some research on this phenomenon, and The Patch reported on this issueas well. Please take some time to read them and let’s keep our communities safe!
Briefing by Public Health—Seattle & King County Director on Tuesday
Public Health—Seattle & King County Director Patty Hayes joined us at this past Tuesday’s King County Council Meeting to provide an update on vaccines and COVID in King County. It was a very informative briefing. The video is not up yet, but when it is it will be available here. In the meantime, I’ve included some interesting slides from her presentation below. The bottom line is that positive cases are continuing to increase – especially among those in their 20s and 30s – and vaccine applications going up.
 
TOMORROW AT 12:15 p.m.: Briefing with Dr. Jeff Duchin
King County Health Officer Dr. Jeff Duchin will brief the public and take questions from reporters tomorrow, Friday, March 16that 12:15 p.m. He will provide updates on trends in COVID-19 cases and share the latest information on COVID-19 vaccination efforts. The briefing will be livestreamed on the Public Health – Seattle & King County Facebook page, @KCPubHealth.
$600 Million COVID budget coming to Council
 Yesterday, Executive Constantine transmitted a new COVID supplemental budget, that we’re referring to as Covid 7 or the 7thCOVID, that contains $600 million in spending, primarily using state and federal funds. The ambitious plan designates about 42% to our continued Public Health response, including vaccines; about 33% to community supports; and 22% targeting King County’s economic recovery. The Council will review the proposal and go through the formal budget amendment process over the next several weeks. As Budget Chair, I will lead that process which will formally begin at 9:30 a.m. at our April 20th meeting of the Budget and Fiscal Management (BFM) Committee. We expect to vote on the final budget in mid-May. If you’re interested in reading more about it, see the Executive’s announcement and some good coverage in The Seattle Times.
KC Council Approved Sixth COVID Supplemental Budget
The King County Council on Tuesday approved a sixth round of supplemental funding in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. (We approved five such budgets last year and are continuing identifying them in sequential order.) The $92 million budget includes funds for eviction protection and rental assistance, vaccination efforts, PPE, community-based organizations and more. Through a “striking amendment” I offered, we made some minimal changes to Executive Constantine’s proposal.
This budget, which passed unanimously as was the case with all of our last year’s five COVID budgets, addresses critical needs in public health and provides a very large amount of assistance to residents struggling to pay rent ($45.2 million), which will be helpful to landlords as well. We also apply the lessons learned over this last difficult year and created many improvements to our systems, adding a “hub-and-spoke” model to work with community-based organizations, an advisory committee to the rental assistance program, and an accounting system that will allow small organizations without deep reserves to receive assistance when they cannot wait for reimbursement. We also adopted an amendment offered by Councilmember Girmay Zahilay addressing gun violence prevention. Read more about our sixth supplemental budget in The Seattle Times.
Mass shootings continue in the United States
 Pre-pandemic March for Our Lives. Photo courtesy of Alex Radelich, Unsplash.
As you likely know, mass shootings continued to occur this week. On Monday, there was a shooting at a grocery store in Colorado, leaving 10 people dead. Danny Westneat from The Seattle Times asked in his column this week what could keep the next mass shooting from happening. My heart goes out to the families of the individuals who were killed. For more information on the shooting, there is some good coverage from The New York Times.
You may be interested in this interview on KUOW that I heard this morning with Seattle journalist Lori Matsukawa regarding representation and how to confront harassment toward Asian Americans and in this article from The Seattle Times: The hidden stories that give rise to violence against Asian American women.
Also, this podcast is available from The Washington Post: Podcast: Gun violence in a pandemic.
Save the Date: Amplifying Womxn’s Voices: Challenges, Inequities, and Moving Forward
Please join us for our 5th annual panel discussion in recognition of March as Women’s History Month at King County, co-sponsored by the King County Women's Advisory Board and the King County Legislative Branch Equity and Social Justice Team.
Last year, the annual Womxn’s History Month panel discussion that I have hosted and moderated annually since 2016 was cancelled due to the pandemic. However, this year’s program, titled “Amplifying Womxn’s Voices: Challenges, Inequities, and Moving Forward,” will be held virtually via KCTV (King County TV Channel 22 and on Facebook) on Monday, March 29th 11:45 am to 1:15 pm.
We have an outstanding panel lined up this year and I hope that you will tune in for a fabulous conversation:• Hon. Claudia Balducci, King County Council Chair representing District 6, King County Council, she/her• Roxana Pardo Garcia, Cultural Worker and Certified Xingona, Founder and Owner of La Roxay Productions, she/ella/they• Kristina Logsdon, Chief of Staff to King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski, she/her• Sharonne Navas, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Equity in Education Coalition, she/her• ChrisTiana ObeySumner, Community Organizer, Activist, and CEO, Epiphanies of Equity LLC, they/them• Hon. Justice G. Helen Whitener, Supreme Court Justice, Washington State Supreme Court, she/her
TO JOIN: Closed captions will be available. A recording will be available afterwards. Please stream via KCTV for live closed captioning. We will take questions at about 1 p.m.
Funding Opportunity: Office of Crime Victims Advocacy
The Department of Commerce’s Office of Crime Victims Advocacy (OCVA) program is currently accepting applications for funding sexual assault services and prevention activities for marginalized and Native American communities. Funds are intended to serve people affected by sexual assault in these communities.
Applications for this funding are due by 5 p.m. on Monday, April 26th. More information is available here. Please direct further questions to Trisha Smith, trisha.smith@commerce.wa.gov.
Additional helpful and informative links
Today’s moment of inspiration
 Today’s moment of inspiration is about someone who went out of her way to express gratitude to some often-overlooked essential workers. After watching news stories about the difficulties faced by long-haul truckers in the age of COVID, Canadian senior Beverly Perrin and her husband began delivering personalized thank you cards to truckers at a nearby truck-stop. They’ve delivered more than 1,000 to date. According to the Good News Network, “Perrin told CBC news, “One trucker asked me, ‘How much do I pay you?’ [I told him] it’s just from me to you, as a senior—that we so appreciate you.” Read the full story here.
A quote to leave you with…
“Instinct is the nose of the mind.” –Madame de Girardin (French writer)
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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