COVID-19 UPDATES
As of Saturday, May 22, Public Health -- Seattle & King County (Public Health) is reporting these numbers (NOTE: The DOH did not issue updates yesterday or today):
- 205 new positive cases of COVID-19 (includes 203 confirmed cases and 2 probable cases, for a total of 108,308).
- 2 new COVID-19-related deaths (1,575 total)
- 18 new hospitalizations (6,099 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, according to the state Department of Health (DOH), as of Friday, May 21:
-Total number of confirmed positive cases is 394,143; the total number of probable cases is 33,351 for a total of 427,494 cases.
- The total number of deaths statewide is 5,702
- The total number of hospitalizations is 23,560
COVID AND OTHER UPDATES
Quote of the Day: “What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Proof of vaccination?
 As soon as vaccinations became widely available – and particularly after the CDC changed its guidance on mask-wearing for fully vaccinated individuals – many people have been asking about definitive proof of vaccination. Schools, colleges, businesses, airlines and others have been trying to figure out how to keep their students, clients and staff safe.
There are some legal, privacy and logistical issues involved. See the following articles for more on this continuing debate:
- Anthony Fauci said he thinks universities, cruise ships, and airlines will require proof of COVID-19 vaccines before letting people in – Business Insider
- Employers can ask you for proof of vaccination, here’s why – MSN
- Doctor creates wristband that gives proof of COVID-19 vaccination – KHOU (Colorado)
- Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signs law banning COVID-19 'vaccine passports' – United Press International (UPI)
- The next frontier in air travel: Digital passports as proof of vaccination or testing – NBC News
- What to do if you lose your COVID-19 vaccine card – Business Insider
- How to protect your COVID vaccination card digitally: Dos and don'ts – PC World
- How IBM's COVID-19 vaccine passport works – WBUR (Boston)
- Seattle Sounders open fully vaccinated sections – KING 5 News
Our future with COVID
While none of us can predict the future, see some thoughts below on what we might expect to see this summer and beyond.
- Double-dipping? Mix and match? What future may hold for COVID-19 vaccinations – The Seattle Times
- What’s our COVID future? Here’s what scientists say about summer, fall in Washington - The Seattle Times
- Expect 'close to normal' summer but more COVID cases this fall, experts say – KOMO News
- King County Fair to welcome back visitors, activities in July with COVID-19 modifications – q13fox
- You asked: Should I travel to my big, mixed-vaxxed family reunion? - The Washington Post
- US Covid-19 vaccination pace is down by nearly half in the last month. These states slow to vaccinate may struggle this summer, expert warns - CNN
Kids, COVID and vaccines
 Photo by Atoms from Unsplash
- What activities can children without COVID vaccines do? Here’s what the experts say - The Seattle Times
- C.D.C. is investigating a heart problem in a few young vaccine recipients – The New York Times
- Shots for students: At Seattle COVID vaccine clinics, a hope to return to ‘like it was before’ - The Seattle Times
- Study: Children with autism or ADHD can mask consistently – UW Medicine News
Reminder: Seattle Kraken hosts pop-up vaccination clinic TOMORROW
Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 25, the Seattle Kraken hockey team is hosting a vaccination event, featuring 25% off merchandise and participants having a chance to win tickets to Eric Church, Bad Bunny or Kane Brown. The event, hosted in partnership with Virginia Mason, will take place tomorrow from noon – 6 p.m. at the team’s Chandler’s Cove store on South Lake Union. For full information, see this page.
Uber and Lyft providing free rides to and from vaccination sites
 Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash
Still need a vaccine but worried about getting to a site? Beginning today and through July 4, Uber and Lyft will be offering FREE rides to and from COVID-19 vaccination sites. This is a partnership between the White House and the two companies. See the links above for more information.
More clarification on mask-wearing guidance
 Photo by Dyer Oxley / KUOW. A sign asking customers to keep their masks on, even if they have been vaccinated, at the front door of Third Place Books in Seattle's Seward Park neighborhood.
- What immunocompromised people want you to know about masks - The Seattle Times
- Video: King County health officer’s May 20 press briefing on directive to continue using face masks – The Public Health Insider blog
- Mask wearing indoors in King County continues: Duchin makes the right decision - Seattle P-I
- Who can and can’t go maskless: Amid mixed messages, here’s where things stand in Seattle area - The Seattle Times
It’s been one year since George Floyd was murdered
 Photo by munshots on Unsplash
One year ago today, George Floyd was killed at the hands of police. His death (following the deaths of so many others) galvanized an enormous response. People took to the streets in huge numbers, many of them people who had never attended a protest, many of them white, declaring, “Black Lives Matter.” Though so much remains to be done, I believe this awakening was a positive and essential step. See more below on this hugely significant anniversary:
- A year after George Floyd’s death, Washington state lawmakers pass police accountability, equity bills – The Seattle Times
- Floyd killing prompts some states to limit or ban chokeholds – Associated Press (AP) News
- They will never be forgotten’: Seattle King County NAACP event puts focus on police killings – The Seattle Times
- Floyd's death laid bare the 'Minnesota Paradox' of racism – AP News
- Podcast: Former Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best on a year of unrest – Crosscut
- One year after George Floyd's death, there's cautious optimism for police reform – CBS News
This week at the Council: COVID 7 budget and more
Tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.: Several briefings, including Impact Analysis of King County’s COVID-19 Isolation and Quarantine Sites
At tomorrow’s meeting of the Council’s Local Services Committee, Tuesday May 25th at 9:30 a.m., committee members will receive several briefings, including on County road funding, rural behavioral health needs and the King Conservation District annual update. Also included will be discussion of an Impact Analysis of King County’s COVID-19 Isolation and Quarantine Sites.
The public is welcome to view the (virtual) meeting and submit public comments. For instructions on viewing the meeting and submitting comments, and to view the agenda and meeting materials, see this page.
Tomorrow at 1 p.m.: Budget discussion and COVID-19 County response briefing
The full County Council meets tomorrow, Tuesday, May 25 at 1 p.m. and will take up a number of items, including amendments and final action on the COVID 7 budget. Councilmembers will also be briefed on the County’s COVID-19 response and will take up proclamations for Mental Health Awareness Month and Education for All Day in King County.
The public is welcome to view the (virtual) meeting and submit public comments. For instructions on viewing the meeting and submitting comments, and to view the agenda and meeting materials, see this page.
Sisterhood of the Traveling (Pandemic) Diary
Remember the 2005 movie, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants? WBUR in Boston is reporting on Kyra Peralte of Montclair, New Jersey, who started keeping a journal about COVID-19 during the darkest days of the pandemic. Then she began sending it to strangers, inviting other women to tell their own stories. Now the Traveling Diary Tour has more than 700 members worldwide in cities like London, Australia, Portugal and Hong Kong.
Plymouth Housing announces start of work on Ballard Crossing
 Architect rendering of Ballard Crossing
We know that in order for us to successfully address the homelessness crisis plaguing our region we have to provide permanent supportive housing for our neighbors suffering from chronic homelessness. I’m pleased to support Plymouth Housing’s Ballard Crossing project and am confident it will provide services necessary to help some of our most vulnerable neighbors exit homelessness once and for all. Read or view more about the new building here.
More news on housing and homelessness in Seattle and King County
 Photo from Reuters
- New laws aim to keep people from losing their homes in Washington - Crosscut
- The COVID pandemic split the King County homeless system in two. A year later, the differences remain stark – The Seattle Times
- Seattle's efforts to handle homeless camps showing divisions from within – KOMO News
- Update on shigellosis outbreak among people experiencing homelessness in King County – Public Health Insider blog
For assistance avoiding eviction
King County's Eviction Prevention and Rental Assistance Program (EPRAP) is one of the ways the County is helping residents facing financial hardship and housing instability due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information see this article from the County’s Department of Community and Human Services blog. To apply for assistance, see this link: https://rent-help.kingcounty.gov.
I am working with my colleague, Councilmember Girmay Zahilay, on a striking amendment for our just cause evictions/tenant protections legislation that may be included on the agenda for the Council’s Community, Health, and Housing Services Committee June 9th meeting.
Increase in WIC (Women, Infants and Children) food benefits through September
 Fill up on extra veggies and fruits this summer with WIC's temporary increase. From June through September, WIC’s cash value benefit for fruits and vegetables has increased to $35.00 per participant. Learn more here: https://www.doh.wa.gov/YouandYourFamily/WIC
COVID: A conversation on Trauma, Stigma, Grief, & Growth
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Join panelists and community as they discuss the impacts of trauma, stigma, grief and growth as it relates to COVID-19 and BIPOC communities. Register now: https://bit.ly/3fijPR3
DID YOU KNOW?
... that on this day in 1935, according to History Link, nine-year-old George H. Weyerhaeuser was kidnapped in Tacoma and held for ransom on May 24, 1935? After his father paid the $200,000 ransom, the boy was “...released in rural Issaquah on June 1, 1935, unleashing ‘the greatest manhunt in the history of the Northwest.’”
Additional helpful and informative links
- Live: Coronavirus daily news updates, May 24: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the world – The Seattle Times
- US Navy introduces incentives for sailors to get vaccinated – CNN
- Thousands of military and veterans’ COVID-19 vaccinations aren’t in Washington state data, hindering pandemic response – The Seattle Times
- They Haven’t Gone for a Shot. So Shots Are Coming to Them. (Mentions Washington state) – The New York Times
- Vaccinations available some days on Seattle/Bremerton ferry runs – KIRO 7
- How medical jargon can make COVID health disparities even worse – NPR
- How America failed students with disabilities during the pandemic – The Washington Post
- COVID-19 may have killed 20% more than reported in US – Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy
- Why emotional, mental health impacts of COVID may linger – My Northwest
- Opinion: Treat gun violence like COVID-19 — as a public-health crisis (by my colleague, Councilmember Girmay Zahilay) – The Seattle Times
- King County mulling over tax relief incentives, gift cards to encourage vaccinations – KOMO News
- COVID testing’s value shrinks as vaccines beat back virus- AP News / The Seattle Times
- Amtrak restores service on routes following COVID cutbacks – AP News
- Opinion: Prioritize sexual-assault victims in court backlog – The Seattle Times
- Families of people killed by police are left without answers while King County’s inquests are stalled – The Seattle Times
- Standards board outlines recommendations for protection of domestic workers – The South Seattle Emerald
- Why Black faculty matter on university campuses – The Seattle Times
- King County ORCA youth card fee will be waived permanently – The Seattle Times
- FAA proposes more than $60,000 in fines against unruly passengers – NBC News
- Audio: Renovations put Seattle hockey arena closer to its goal of zero carbon emissions – Yale Climate Connections
- Tribal leaders condemn Inslee’s veto of consultation, protection provisions in climate bill – Snoqualmie Valley Record
- Grim western fire season starts much drier than record 2020 – AP News
- Water crisis ‘couldn’t be worse’ on Oregon-California border – AP News
Today’s moment of inspiration
 Yes, this is about a shamelessly cute animal video. But it’s also about a school that was willing to be creative and flexible, and a 20-year-old annual tradition that is now memorialized in a children’s book. It’s the story of generations of mother ducks that have been nesting and hatching their ducklings every spring for 20 years in the courtyard of Eisenhower Elementary in Hopkins, Minnesota. The challenge each year is to get the ducklings from the courtyard to the pond on the opposite side of the school. Truly, this is a must-watch video: https://youtu.be/Y6SFB585BcE
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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