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Snohomish County on Thursday launched a program designed to support small businesses on the front lines of economic recovery as cases of COVID-19 rise across the region.
Snohomish County is launching its Safe Start Kits program during the fall holiday season to help small businesses stay safe. Local businesses are key for our economy and quality of life, but they also lead by example and help set the tone during challenging times. By adhering to health measures, our business leaders help reduce the spread illness, protect their employees and customers, and pave the way for economic recovery.
The Safe Start Kits program will assemble and distribute 2,500 boxes of PPE and 300 hand sanitizer stands to Snohomish County small businesses (having approximately 20 or fewer employees) to help them safely stay open and their customers healthy during the holiday season.
Snohomish County will coordinate events across the county with approximately 15 partners on November 17th followed up by distribution events and on-demand distribution around the county. The program will wrap up in mid-December.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our local economy,” said Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers. “By making sure we equip local businesses for maximum safety during the holiday season, we strengthen our ability to fight COVID-19 and its negative impacts on our economy. I’m proud of the efforts of our business community to keep people employed and safe during these tough times.”
“This program is a critical piece of Snohomish County’s ongoing response to COVID-19 and is especially timely as the weather turns cold and case numbers rise,” said Snohomish County Council Chair Nate Nehring. “Small businesses are an integral part of the county’s response to COVID-19, and we are doing our part to keep them as safe as possible and our economy as resilient as possible.”
“With flu season among us, we’re seeing an alarming rise of COVID-19,” said Jacque Julien, the Executive Director of Communities of Color Coalition. “We’re asking all communities to move with care and compassion through the holiday season. Mask up SnoCo! Communities of Color Coalition (C3) is happy to support this countywide effort to keep our community strong and healthy!”
Each box of PPE will include:
- 1 infrared thermometer
- 50 cloth face masks (reusable)
- 150 disposable masks
- 2 (32 oz/1,000 ml) bottles of hand sanitizer with spray nozzles
- 100 pairs disposable gloves
- One 2-page insert with health information and links to translations
Detailed information and links to sign up available here: https://www.snohomishcountywa.gov/SafeStartKits
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Gov. Jay Inslee issued a travel advisory for Washington Friday, recommending a 14-day quarantine for interstate and international travel and asking residents to stay close to home. Inslee joined California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown in urging visitors entering their states or returning home from travel outside these states to self-quarantine to slow the spread of the virus.
“COVID-19 cases have doubled in Washington over the past two weeks. This puts our state in as dangerous a position today as we were in March,” Inslee said. “Limiting and reducing travel is one way to reduce further spread of the disease. I am happy to partner with California and Oregon in this effort to help protect lives up and down the West Coast.”
In addition to urging individuals arriving from other states or countries to self-quarantine for 14 days after arrival, the states’ travel advisories recommend individuals limit their interactions to their immediate household. The advisories define essential travel as travel for work and study, critical infrastructure support, economic services and supply chains, health, immediate medical care, and safety and security
The governor and Washington’s first lady, Trudi Inslee, on Thursday evening spoke directly to Washingtonians via a livestream televised address, urging them to rethink holiday celebrations this year by physically gathering only with those from the same household. "Anyone can get COVID, even if they think they're doing the right thing," said Gov. Inslee. "We cannot wait until our hospitals' halls are lined with gurneys waiting for rooms before we take decisive action."
"What happens next in our state depends on what happens in our families and in our homes," said First Lady Trudi Inslee. "That's why we implore you: Rethink spending time with people outside of your household on Thanksgiving and the December holidays."
The governor said that more guidance focused on fighting the surge in COVID cases may be coming as early as Monday.
Watch the full address here or read the governor’s Facebook post.
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Being apart is hard, especially during the holidays, but we need to connect and care for each other in new ways this season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We encourage you not to gather in person for Thanksgiving this year, but if you choose to do so, there are actions you can take to keep everyone safer. Find that guidance here. The state Department of Health also has advice for safer gatherings, and it is available in multiple languages.
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Dr. Chris Spitters, Health Officer at the Snohomish Health District, on Tuesday provided a pointed assessment of the community’s COVID-19 situation. The remarks below came at a press conference late in the day that included public health officials from the state and other Puget Sound-area counties. The Joint Information Center is publishing Spitters’ remarks in full because they provide the clearest, most concise picture of how the coronavirus is now again spreading through the community. We also are spreading the word with a social media video.
Comments from Dr. Chris Spitters, Nov. 10, 2020, press conference
Here we are, now almost 10 months after we brought you news of the first COIVD case ever recorded in the U.S. here in Snohomish County.
In the months that followed, our communities and businesses sacrificed a lot to help get the cases down and ease the pressure on our hospital system.
Unfortunately, too many people are getting tired of—and for some, increasingly frustrated with—the ongoing need to follow public health interventions to prevent spread of the virus. While that is understandable, the recent data is now highlighting the severe consequences of what occurs to me as a failure of will.
In Snohomish County, we’ve seen a shocking increase in our 2-week case rate. With cases through November 7, we had a 50% increase from the previous week. Ballooning to nearly 189 cases per 100,000 in a 2-week period.
County-wide test positivity has more than doubled in the past month and is now around 6%. Our largest clinic system had a 10% positivity rate last week and showed 15% positive over this past weekend.
Cases in long term care facilities have increased from a few per week to over 20 per week in the past month.
The number of COVID patients in Snohomish County hospitals has almost doubled in the past 7 days, from 25 to 44 as of this morning. Six of those patients are on mechanical ventilators. These numbers are below what we experienced last March and April, but they are rapidly advancing in that direction. With hospitalizations generally trailing 2-3 weeks after transmission occurs, the recent spike in cases suggests that we are in the beginning of a surge in demand for hospital care that may become overwhelming—and I would submit WILL become overwhelming if we don’t change course immediately. Not after the holidays. Not next week. Not tomorrow. Now.
I’m hearing concerns from our healthcare system leaders about ongoing staffing shortages making it difficult to provide the acute care in these settings even at current levels of occupancy. Consequently, regional hospitals are already developing contingency plans for such an event. This affects not only people’s ability to get care for COVID, but also for other urgent needs like heart attacks, strokes, cancer diagnosis, and surgery.
If you don’t find this information reassuring, that means you’re paying attention. We are deeply concerned about an impending crisis and YOU should be concerned, too. While I think we are already in the beginnings of such a hospital surge, and alarm bells do seem to be sounding, I believe that with concerted effort we can alter the course we’re on now.
My request of you is simple, if not difficult. But any mandatory restrictions will be far more difficult to bear.
Holding gatherings is a threat to all. Stop it. Plain and simple, just stop the gatherings.
- Make a bubble of the same five-or-fewer social contacts outside of your household, and stick to that.
- Wear a mask around people you don’t live with.
- When is more ok? Not at all in the immediate future.
- Reduce socializing and other non-essential activity. If it’s not for work, school or medical purposes, the safest bet is to skip it. Don’t attend gatherings. Period.
- Avoid contact with people and businesses who don’t follow the guidance.
Before you stands a panel of physicians, health officers and other public health professionals warning you that if you don’t take action immediately, even more painful and difficult interventions are inevitable.
I strongly recommend you take their advice, for your own good and more importantly for the entire community depending on you to do so.
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Since September 1, there have been 44 cases of COVID-19 linked to K-12 facilities in Snohomish County. Of those:
- 28 cases stemmed from a staff member, 14 from students, and two from other visitors
- 36 were a single case with no further transmission in the school setting, and the remaining eight instances had a range of 2-9 subsequent cases that occurred.
- In no instance has uncontrolled or widespread transmission occur.
The Washington State Department of Health reports similar findings from statewide monitoring of school outbreaks. Even in communities with more liberal implementation of in-person learning, transmission in the school setting has been rare and controlled. Large school-based outbreaks have not occurred locally or statewide to-date.
It may seem counterintuitive to have public health officials calling for people to stop social gatherings and limit their bubble to no more than five people, while still providing an option for limited in-person learning in the schools. However, the community-wide increase here in Snohomish County has not been linked to transmission in schools. It is being driven by the transmission in private social gatherings and some workplaces where masks are not being worn and social distancing is not being followed.
A gathering of students who have been screened, masked, and distanced is a much lower risk than a gathering of non-household family or friends for a meal and conversation. The public health community’s current consensus is that schools conducting limited in-person learning in small cohorts with necessary prevention measures in place are unlikely to experience uncontrolled transmission, nor are they likely to exacerbate community-based transmission. This is why, at the current time, there is no disease control basis for the Health District to discourage a school district’s careful and controlled return of young students to in-person learning.
“Some want much more in-person learning than is occurring, and others much less. I have no data or words to offer that can close that gap,” said Dr. Spitters. “What I can tell you is that current countermeasures in place in our K-12 schools here and elsewhere appear to be working to prevent transmission in those settings. The Washington State Department of Health and OSPI also continue to support the gradual, phasing in limited in-person learning for young students and children with special needs—even in the current environment of high transmission in communities.”
To bend the curve of this third wave, restricting gatherings in the home and the community is the pathway. Evidence to date suggests that keeping children--especially young children--out of school, will do little toward achieving that goal. That is why schools are managed through a separate COVID-19 guidance, and the gathering limit of 5 does not apply there.
See the full press release for more information.
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The Health District successfully transitioned to UW Labs for processing of tests and their platform for results notification. These moves have helped decrease the turnaround time from an average of 3-4 business days to 1-3 calendar days.
Registration is now open for appointments through the end of November. All information will still be accessed at www.snohd.org/testing.
Drive-through testing will continue at the 3900 Broadway site in Everett from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday thru Friday. Given winds and dropping temperatures, the Health District will not be offering testing at the Lynnwood Food Bank for the time being. The Health District is in the process of evaluating additional locations, as well as adding weekends in the near future.
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Washingtonians filed 25,201 initial regular unemployment claims during the week of Nov. 1 through Nov. 7. That was a jump of 71.7% compared to the previous week, and the largest increase in initial regular claims since March 21, the state Employment Security Department reported.
Initial regular claims typically increase this time of year due to seasonal layoffs, primarily in the agriculture and construction industries, the state said.
Snohomish County initial claims filings increased 80.3% during the week of Nov. 1 through Nov. 7, from 1,506 to 2,715.
See the full press release for more information.
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Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday extended into December deadlines on 27 proclamations related to the COVID-19 crisis. The proclamations cover a wide range of subjects, including unemployment, licensing, health, open records, public meetings and more.
For more information see the full press release.
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The Washington State Department of Commerce created the Washington Youth Development Nonprofit Relief Fund and partnered with School’s Out Washington to implement it. The funding was made possible by the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act). This one-time investment helps nonprofits keep their doors open and manage programmatic and financial challenges including lost revenue and increased expenses to adhere to new safety measures.
$9.4 million was awarded to 421 youth development organizations. Awards were distributed across all areas of the state with a focus on organizations serving priority populations that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 (BIPOC, LGBTQ, migrants/immigrants, youth with disabilities and youth in poverty, among others). Awards range from $10,000 to $50,000 and will be distributed between mid-November and December 15, 2020.
“As far as we’ve come together in combating COVID-19, we still have a long way to go. Nonprofit organizations are absolutely crucial for supporting and lifting up the children and youth most at risk of falling behind or suffering the physical and emotional impacts of this pandemic. But our community organizations can’t do their work without funding. We are in this together, and these grants are one way we can help keep our communities strong,” said Lisa Brown, director of the Washington State Department of Commerce.
Organizations in Snohomish County receiving funding include:
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Snohomish County
- Boys & Girls Club of Snohomish County – Brewster Unit
- Cocoon House
- Foundation for Edmonds School District
- Girl Scouts of Western Washington
- Glacier Peak Institute
- Housing Hope
- Imagine Children’s Museum
- Tulalip Foundation
- Volunteers of America Western Washington
- Snohomish County Music Project
- YWCA of Seattle-King-Snohomish County
- YMCA of Snohomish County
Read the full release.
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Connections are crucial for mental and emotional wellness. Feelings of isolation or loneliness can contribute to depression and anxiety. One of the best ways to take care of each other is to stay connected, even when we can't be together in person.
Here are some ideas for adults to stay connected. How are you connecting? #YouGotThis
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Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler extended his emergency order, directing all state-regulated health insurers to make additional coverage changes to aid consumers during the coronavirus pandemic. His order is in effect until Dec. 11 and requires health insurers to:
- Continue coverage for providing telehealth via methods including telephone and video chat tools such as Facetime, Facebook Messenger video chat, Google Hangout video, Skype and Go-to-Meeting.
- Cover all medically necessary diagnostic testing for flu and certain other viral respiratory illnesses billed during a provider visit for COVID-19 with no copay, coinsurance or deductible.
- Treat drive-up testing sites for COVID-19 as provider visit with no copay, coinsurance or deductible.
See the full press release for more details.
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The state Department of Health is continuing its Stories from the Field series, focused on how people are collaborating to support a healthy Washington during the pandemic. Here’s the latest installment:
When Susan was diagnosed with COVID-19 in the Spring, she was a healthy woman in her late 30s with no underlying health conditions. Six months later, she’s still experiencing symptoms. Stories like hers are part of the landscape shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Susan’s symptoms began in mid-March, when she developed a low-grade fever. When she didn’t feel better within a week, she made a virtual appointment with a local clinic. The provider diagnosed a sinus infection and prescribed antibiotics. Her fever went away for a few days and she felt better.
Five days later Susan’s fever returned. Soon she was having trouble breathing. “My voice was crackly, my chest hurt when breathing,” she said. However, she didn’t feel tired or weak. She then developed a significant, crushing pain in her chest. “It felt like an elephant sitting on my chest.”
See the full blog post.
 Click the image to watch the full video
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Cumulative case counts January 2020 through November 13, 2020.
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ESSENTIAL LINKS AND PHONE NUMBERS FOR UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION
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