COVID-19 Data Updates
For up-to-date information on cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the County, see the Daily COVID-19 outbreak summary dashboard. The links to the data by demographics and geography are on the same page.
To view all County COVID-related Data Dashboards, including vaccination rates and outcomes according to vaccination status, see this page.
To view the most recent statewide COVID-19 data from the state Department of Health (DOH), see this dashboard, updated three times a week.
The graphs below show today’s reported cases, hospitalizations and deaths in King County. Rates are indeed coming down!
  
Quote of the Day:
“... the measure of a country's greatness is its ability to retain compassion in time of crisis.” – Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, 1972
COVID News
Using N-95 masks
 You may have heard by now that, due to the extreme contagiousness of the Omicron variant, the CDC and public health experts have been urging the public to upgrade to N-95 or KN-95 masks.
A recent report by the CDC, reported on in The Washington Post and picked up by The Seattle Times, measures the improved effectiveness of N-95 and KN-95 masks at preventing COVID. According to the article, “In indoor public settings, surgical masks reduce the chances of testing positive by 66%, the CDC estimated. Top-of-the-line N95 and KN95 masks, the tightfitting face coverings often worn by health-care workers, cut the odds of infection by 83%, the health agency said.”
We’ve included information in the past on how to “up your mask game” and how to improve the performance of whichever mask you’re using. The CDC, however, has some advice specific to N-95 masks (also referred to as “N-95 respirators”), as these masks are meant to fit tightly, and may be problematic for some people with difficulty breathing.
According to the CDC, “Wearing an N-95 can make it harder to breathe. If you have heart or lung problems, talk to your doctor before using an N-95. Some N-95s may contain latex in the straps. If you have natural rubber latex allergies, see the manufacturers’ website for information about your specific model.”
For specific manufacturer’s instructions for your N-95 model, see the CDC’s list of Free N-95 Respirator Manufacturers. Also, see the following webpages from the CDC:
- How to Use Your N-95 Respirator
- Wear Your N-95 Properly So It Is Effective
I personally find KN-95 masks more comfortable.
New state guidelines for child care and early learning centers
 Public Health is adopting the newly updated Washington State Department of Health (DOH) child care guidance that was published on February 1, 2022. The new guidance applies to child care, youth development programs, and day camps during the pandemic. The new guidance can be found here.
Kids and Health Equity - A Conversation with Kevin Churchwell, CEO, Boston Children’s Hospital: This Friday at 9 a.m. PT
 Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health is inviting the public to join a conversation with Boston Children’s CEO Kevin Churchwell, a nationally recognized as a champion for pediatric health equity. With its recent launch of the Fenwick Institute, Boston Children’s aims to eliminate childhood health disparities, diversify the ranks of caregivers at all levels, and influence public policy so that all kids get the care they deserve. The live Q&A will be moderated by Asaf Bitton, a practicing primary care physician and the executive director of Ariadne Labs, a center for health system innovation based at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Register hereto join this free event this Friday, February 11 at 9 a.m. Pacific Time (noon ET).
Youth-produced videos about importance of vaccines for children and young people
King County’s COVID-19 and Health Equity Training and Capacity Building Program works with young people to educate their peers and parents/guardians about COVID and the COVID Vaccine. Magdalene and Yuhaniz are two young people who have worked with Public Health for seven years doing peer and near-to-peer education on vaccines. They created and produced the following social media videos. Watch the videos below to learn more and share on your own social media networks if you choose:
- The first video focuses on the importance of 12 to 17 year olds getting vaccinated. Watch and share on Facebook and Instagram.
- The second video is geared to parents and guardians of 5 to 11 year olds to discuss how critical it is to get children vaccinated. Watch and share on Facebook and Instagram.
- What to Know about the Pfizer Covid Vaccine for Kids Under 5 – Seattle Met
- Younger Americans benefited less from booster shots than older people – The Seattle Times
National Domestic Violence Hotline calls and the Social, Economic, and Overall Health impacts of COVID-19: February 7, 2022
According to Public Health, Contacts to the National Domestic Violence (DV) Hotline by King County residents have remained high since the beginning of the pandemic. Specifically:
- Since March 2020, at least 145 contacts (calls/texts/chats) a month have been made by victims/survivors in King County to the National DV Hotline. The largest number of contacts were made in November 2021 (212 contacts).
- The leading types of DV abuse reported are emotional, physical, and financial. In December 2021, 92% of King County DV contacts reported experiencing emotional abuse, 64% reported experiencing physical abuse, and 36% reported experiencing financial/economic abuse. (Victims/survivors can report more than one type of abuse.)
- Overall, female victims/survivors were at least 4 times more likely to contact the DV hotline for assistance, than males. In December 2021, 23 males contacted the DV hotline, compared to 138 females (6 times more).
Monitoring wastewater for COVID: CDC Telebriefing and launch of national surveillance system
Photo from UW News: “Postdoctoral researcher Raymond RedCorn and research technician John Carter, from left, set-up an autosampler to collect wastewater from a utility hole.”
Over the last year or so, we have included articles about analyzing wastewater to help with early detection of COVID outbreaks, as well as helping public health experts gather more information on COVID strains. On Friday, the CDC held a telebriefing for media, health professionals and others on “COVID-19 Wastewater Surveillance.” The CDC has launched a national wastewater surveillance system to help track how COVID spreads in communities.
You can listen to the telebriefing in full, or read the transcript at the link above. You may also be interested in the following articles and links:
- Detecting COVID-19 in wastewater – UW Civil and Environmental Engineering Department News
- National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) page – The CDC
- CDC to expand wastewater monitoring to help track coronavirus trends – The Seattle Times
Blood donors still urgently needed
Our local blood supply has hit emergency levels. Public Health is asking everyone who is feeling healthy -- especially O negative and O positive donors -- to please schedule a donation ASAP and in the next three weeks. Schedule your donation today at http://schedule.bloodworksnw.org or 800-398-7888.
County Business and Other News and Events
Save the date: My upcoming Town Hall on February 23rd
 King County continues to face a crisis of housing instability and inadequate access to health care, especially behavioral health, and community safety issues made worse as the pandemic drags into its third year. Please join me for a town hall meeting on Wednesday, February 23rd at 6 p.m. with five King County leaders who focus their work on these critical issues. The event will be streamed live on Facebook and questions may be submitted in advance via this Google Form or by emailing jeanne.kohl-welles@kingcounty.gov.
This week at the Council
Note: Council meetings are still being held remotely.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 8th at 9:30 a.m. – Government Accountability and Oversight Committee. Agenda: Briefings on COVID 19 response from the County Assessor’s office and County Regional Animal Services. Briefing on 2021 annual report from the Citizens’ Elections Oversight Committee. To view the agenda and meeting materials and to offer public comment, see this page.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 8th at 1 p.m. – Full Council. Agenda: Black History Month proclamation; consent actions on lease agreement with the Center for Wooden Boats, on ordinances relating to the Children and Youth Advisory Board, Best Starts for Kids governance, and the Communities of Opportunity-Best Starts for Kids levy advisory board. Possible action on motions regarding financial management and appointment to the 4Culture Board. To view the agenda and meeting materials and to offer public comment, see this page.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 8th at 1 p.m. – King County Flood Control District. Agenda: Final action on retention bonuses for employees and authorization to contract for staff professional development services. To view the agenda and meeting materials and to offer public comment, see this page.
Wednesday, February 9th at 9:30 a.m. – Budget and Fiscal Management Committee. Agenda: Discussion and possible action on uncollectible property taxes, a feasibility report on basic income pilot program, and sale of surplus property. To view the agenda and meeting materials and to offer public comment, see this page.
Wednesday, February 9th at 3 p.m. – Regional Policy Committee. Agenda: Update on COVID budget issues from County Budget Director Dively. Discussion and possible action on the 2022 Regional Policy Committee Work Program. Briefings and updates on the County Flood Control District and the Veterans, Seniors and Human Services levy 2020 report. To view the agenda and meeting materials and to offer public comment, see this page.
Reminder: Tomorrow is the deadline for returning your ballot
 There are important school ballot measures to be voted on, as well as an election for King Conservation District (KCD, not part of King County government) for a position on the Board of Supervisors, which is being administered by King County Elections. The deadline for returning your ballot is tomorrow, February 8th. For more information on these two elections see the links below:
- Full information on the February 8th election – King County webpage
- Information on the King Conservation District (KCD) election – KCD webpage
And see this page for complete information on voting and elections in King County.
County Wastewater Treatment Division seeks “Operators in Training”
 King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) is looking for new operators, and is offering trainings to help you figure out if this is the right career path for you. Utilities around the country don’t have the operators they need because of retirements, but are finding it tough to find people to fill the jobs for these two reasons:
- Operators have special knowledge, unique skills, and have to be certified – which is a process that can take years; and
- Job seekers out there don’t know these careers exist or how to become an operator.
WTD has started an Operator-in-Training (OIT) program to find and train its own operators in order to bring in talented, new people and help them get certified as quickly as possible. You don’t need a college degree. In fact, you don’t need to have any experience in wastewater. Read the full story here and see this page for full details on applying for the program.
Black History is American History—Ride Metro to visit local African American history
 African Americans were redlined into limited neighborhoods in Seattle during the last century, which they made their own. One of those neighborhoods was the Central District, and Metro celebrates the history of this community with seven special locations.
In a collaborative project, community activists, the Black Heritage Society of Washington State and King County Metro created 40 photo murals installed in seven bus shelters in the Central District recognizing the living legacy of African Americans in this community — shelters you of course can reach by bus. Read the full story and view photos of the murals on this page.
VIDEO: Executive Constantine honors 'those who revive, restore, and reimagine the places that tell the story of this special corner of the country'
This year’s recipients of the John D. Spellman Awards for Exemplary Achievement in Historic Preservation include a team that restored the iconic Saint Edward Seminary along Lake Washington, an archaeologist who has protected cultural artifacts for three decades, and North Bend entrepreneurs who transformed an historic building into a vibrant downtown brewery. Read all about the winners and view the video on this page.
For more information on King County’s Historic Preservation program see this page.
Supporting the arts as we recover – hopefully – from the pandemic
A recent editorial in The Seattle Times highlights the importance of the arts and culture sector in helping to bring about a full recovery from the pandemic. A briefing by ArtsFund will be held on this issue at next week’s February 16th meeting of the Committee of the Whole, which I now chair. See below for more information.
- Editorial: Support arts in long road to recovery – The Seattle Times
- Over 100 creative businesses and organizations will receive grants from the $19.5 million King County Arts & Culture Fund to support the economic recovery of the creative sector – Press release from Executive Constantine (December, 2021)
“Racialized Ableism” training: Friday at 10 a.m.
UW Medicine is hosting a training for all interested people this Friday, February 11th at 10 a.m. The training will explore the varied ways ableism and racism intersect in our understanding, relating, and constructing of others. “Racialized Ableism” is a term that describes the compounded impact of racism and ableism within one experience. Participants will leave with a greater awareness and understanding of the intersections, as well as some takeaway strategies for individual and professional change management. For more information and to register see this page.
Did you know?
... that, according to HistoryLink, on today’s date in 1865, the Seattle Board of Trustees passed an ordinance calling for removal of Indians from the town?
... AND that, according to HistoryLink, on today’s date on 1886, mobs forcibly expelled most of Seattle's Chinese residents?
Read the full details on these incidents and their aftermaths at the links above.
Today’s moment of inspiration
 TikTok photo from Jessica Higgs
Here’s a story about the importance of listening to your intuition and going the extra mile, even for a stranger. Jessica Higgs, an Instacart driver in Georgia, had an odd feeling about one particular order for an older man, ordered by the man’s daughter. Higgs usually drops the bags off on the porch, but this time, as she told The Week, “Something was telling me, 'No, you've got to help this man out,'” so she brought the bags into the house and immediately felt dizzy and noticed the man looked ill.
Before marking the order as complete, Higgs messaged the man’s daughter to let her know she thought there may be a gas leak in the house. Read the rest of the story here.
Additional helpful and informative links
- Live: Coronavirus daily news updates, February 7: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the world – The Seattle Times
- US death toll from COVID-19 hits 900,000, sped by omicron – AP News
- Covid updates today for Seattle area: 50% fewer cases – KUOW
- Breakthrough COVID powers up immune response to variants — including Omicron – Nature Magazine
- At-home Covid test, check. Adequate telehealth response, not yet – KUOW
- The future of the pandemic is looking clearer as we learn more about infection – NPR
- Study suggests Omicron-specific booster may not provide more protection – Stat News
- Opinion: The Supreme Court is partly to blame for the Covid-19 test kit shortage – Stat News
- At-home COVID-19 test kits say they’re not for kids under two. So how do I test my toddler? – The Philadelphia Inquirer
- The 1918 flu didn’t end in 1918: What its third year can teach us – The Seattle Times
- For the uninsured, crowdfunding provides little help in paying for health care and deepens inequities – UW News
- ‘We have to adapt’: US Pacific northwest weighs plans to cope with extreme weather’ – The Guardian
- How programs for homeless youth pivoted in the pandemic – Crosscut
- Helping teens in the Seattle area through loneliness, stress and more – The Seattle Times
- The new emergency responders: Librarians – Crosscut
- Business owners want results from mayor as Seattle gun violence continues – KOMO News
- For the first time in generations, the Snoqualmie Tribe has land – KUOW
- The tsunami could kill thousands. Can they build an escape? – The New York Times
- Third Avenue is Seattle’s endangered lifeblood – The Seattle Times
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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