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 As the third wave of COVID-19 continues to surge in Snohomish County, local leaders on Tuesday drew attention to multiple new programs and tools to help address the disease and support individuals and businesses.
COVID cases continue to rise, with a 20% week-over-week increase in case rates for Snohomish County – from 300 to 368 cases per 100,000 population for the most recent two-week period. Hospitalizations also are going up, and at least nine people are currently in respiratory failure, relying on mechanical ventilators, a virtual press conference was told Tuesday morning.
Snohomish Health District Health Officer Dr. Chris Spitters encouraged people to download or activate the new WA Notify smartphone tool, a secure, voluntary and private platform that uses anonymous codes to notify users if they have been near another WA Notify user who tests positive for COVID. This does not replace existing public health efforts for disease investigation and contact tracing, but it is a supplement to help aid with rapid notification of potential exposure so people can seek care and testing as well as avoid exposing others. More information is available at www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/COVID19/WANotify.
Along with contact tracing and notification, other health measures remain in place to bend the curve of the disease. These include restrictions on social events and business activities. Those restrictions are impacting businesses and individuals around Snohomish County.
Snohomish County has launched www.supportsnoco.com to encourage people to support local businesses this holiday season. (See more below)
“We know that most businesses just need more people to take advantage of what they have to offer,” Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers said. “There are people across the county who want to work hard, are following their dreams, and provide enormous benefits to our region and they really need our help and consideration.”
Small business owners and workers are not the only ones feeling the impacts of the pandemic. Food instability and social isolation have been identified as issues for older adults in Snohomish County, said Laura White, Division Manager for Aging and Disability Services with the Snohomish County Department of Human Services. There has been a 216% increase in referrals for meal delivery to seniors or people living with disabilities since the COVID-19 pandemic began, she said.
“There are currently 18,000 meals being provided per month. That means a lot of people are not going hungry every week, so that just is an amazing statistic,” White said.
Seniors or people with disabilities who need services can access the aging and disability resource network by calling 425-513-1900, she said.
White also urged Snohomish County residents age 55 and older to participate in a COVID-19 survey to help shape programs and services. The survey is available online or by mail. To access it online, go to www.surveymonkey.com/r/snocoseniors. Local senior centers plan to mail the survey to members, as well, or people can request a mailed copy by emailing Kelsey.BangOlsen@snoco.org. The survey is open through January 15, 2021.
Watch the briefing here: https://youtu.be/V67UKyaJJlU
Or read the transcript: https://www.snohd.org/DocumentCenter/View/5839/Dec-1-2020-Briefing-Transcript?bidId=
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Beginning the week of November 30, the Health District doubled the number of its testing sites to four locations with varying schedules. The locations and schedules are below.
Testing is by appointment only and registration is now open. All information can be accessed at www.snohd.org/testing.
Want to learn more about the drive-thru testing process? Videos that walk-through drive-thru testing from start to finish are available in English and Spanish from the Snohomish Health District. The videos have been updated to reflect changes to the registration and results process for drive-thru testing.
Find the videos at:
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Multiple vaccine candidates are on track to be authorized for use in the U.S. by the end of the year. Planning efforts have been underway for months at the state and local level to get ready.
As Snohomish County faces an alarming third wave of COVID, the prospect of a vaccine is generating a lot of interest. Some people are eager to get vaccinated, while others are concerned about the process or the vaccine in general.
Last Tuesday, the Snohomish Health District and Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management published the local interim COVID-19 vaccination plan online. Anyone can see the plan on our Preventing COVID-19 webpage. The statewide plan also is available online.
This is a good time to start learning more about COVID vaccine. We want the people of Snohomish County to feel confident and make informed decisions about this key step in addressing the pandemic. The purpose of vaccinating against COVID is to protect people against acquiring the virus and becoming severely ill. Based upon preliminary modeling and the results from clinical trials showing 90-95% effectiveness in preventing infection, we will need to vaccinate at least 70% of the population in order to interrupt transmission and loosen the grip COVID-19 has on society.
For more information read the full blog post.
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Snohomish County on Nov. 27 announced the launch of Support SnoCo to boost the economic health of local businesses. This program is one of the recommendations from the Snohomish County Economic and Workforce Recovery Task Force and is being funded through federal CARES Act resources. A key feature of the effort is the SupportSnoCo.com site featuring local businesses from across the County and encouraging people to spend holiday dollars locally this year. This effort allows businesses to both attract more customers and maintain their COVID-19 protocols during the holiday season.
Since being the first local government to set up COVID-19 response efforts in the US, Snohomish County has emerged as a national leader in pandemic recovery. Support SnoCo is an integrated partnership bringing together public and private entities—including local chambers of commerce, cities, and towns—with the goal of supporting small businesses impacted by the pandemic. Powered by the community coming together, this effort represents the strength and resiliency of our business community, adapting to change. The kickoff of the support campaign is on Black Friday and Small Business Saturday with the unveiling of a website, SupportSnoCo.com.
“We know that local business owners and the people who work for them have had a very hard year,” said Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers. “We want this holiday season to bring a bit of cheer to our neighborhood businesses by encouraging people to shop locally and safely. The Support SnoCo Campaign provides residents, business owners, and visitors tools to help them make the most of the shopping season. In these challenging times, it is more important than ever that we support one another.”
“The Support SnoCo online hub will strengthen the economic health of Snohomish County by highlighting the fantastic shopping, food, and outdoor amenities that the County has to offer,” said Snohomish County Councilmember and Task Force Advisory Group Chair Nate Nehring. “We encourage residents and visitors alike to support their neighbors this holiday season by buying locally. Together, we will weather these difficulties and emerge as a stronger community.”
See the full press release for more information.
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COVID-19 doesn’t need symptoms to spread. Even if you feel great, you can still have the disease and actively infect those around you. That’s why it’s important to quarantine after an exposure. Please help protect others by following the 14-day rule. Check out this video for more info. #InItTogether.
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COVID-19 hospital occupancy is rapidly increasing throughout Washington as the state continues to experience exponential growth in new cases. We are seeing alarming increases in the number of COVID-19 patients in our hospitals as well as the number hospitalized in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds—critical capacity needed to treat severe COVID-19 cases as well as other patients with serious conditions.
The trend is highlighted in new data added to the state’s Risk Assessment dashboard last Wednesday. The dashboard shows that the number of confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients in our hospitals doubled from 471 on November 1st to 932 on November 23rd. In addition, the number of confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients in our ICUs increased about 75% from 124 on November 1st to 214 on November 23rd. If this doubling rate continues, we may have over 1,800 COVID-19 patients in our hospitals by mid-December.
Because COVID-19 patients may stay in the hospital for several weeks, hospital occupancy will continue to rise for some time even after hospital admissions level off. In some cases, large hospital systems are facing situations that would necessitate delaying non-urgent procedures due to a lack of staffed hospital beds. Situations like this can cause other patients with non-COVID-19 conditions to have to wait, and this also impacts anyone who else may need to seek care. It is imperative that we ensure access to hospital care for anyone who needs it, whether they have COVID-19 or another illness or injury.
See the full press release for more information.
 Adult ICU staffed beds occupied by COVID-19 cases for Snohomish, Island, Skagit, and Whatcom counties
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Gov. Jay Inslee, along with the Washington State Department of Health (DOH), on Monday announced the launch of WA Notify, a simple, anonymous exposure notification tool to help stop the spread of COVID-19. By adding WA Notify to their smartphones, Washington residents will be alerted if they spent time near another WA Notify user who later tests positive for COVID-19.
WA Notify uses privacy-preserving technology jointly developed by Google and Apple and works without collecting or revealing any location or personal data.
“Secure, private and anonymous exposure notification technology is an important tool for Washington,” Inslee said Monday. “We’ve deployed WA Notify in 29 languages so as many Washington residents as possible can protect themselves, their loved ones and their communities. I encourage everyone to start using WA Notify today so we can continue to work together to contain this virus.”
WA Notify is free and can be enabled in iPhone settings or downloaded as an app from the Google Play Store for Android phones. Users can opt out at any time. Several states including Virginia, New York and Colorado are using this tool. Countries successfully using this technology include Ireland, Canada and Germany.
Read the rest of the story on the governor's Medium page.
The information also is available En español.
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We share many of the same hopes in the fight against COVID-19 and other challenges. Sometimes a change in perspective can help make that clearer. #MaskUpWA
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Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has extended two emergency orders. His order requiring health insurers to waive copays and deductibles for any consumer requiring testing for coronavirus (COVID-19) and his order protecting consumers from receiving surprise bills for lab fees related to medically-necessary diagnostic testing for COVID-19 are both extended until Dec. 24.
Kreidler's order waiving cost sharing applies to all state-regulated health insurance plans and short-term limited duration medical plans. The order on surprise billing applies to both in-state and out-of-state laboratories when a provider orders diagnostic testing for COVID-19.
Also, insurers must continue:
- Allowing a one-time early refill for prescription drugs
- Suspending any prior authorization requirement for treatment or testing of COVID-19
- In addition, if an insurer does not have enough medical providers in its network to provide testing or treatment for COVID-19, it must allow enrollees to be treated by another provider within a reasonable distance at no additional cost.
Read the full release.
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Has your Marysville businesses suffered financially from response to the COVID-19 pandemic? If you haven’t already received CARES Act funding from the City of Marysville or Snohomish County, you may be able to receive a Marysville CARES grant of up to $10,000. Grants do not need to be repaid.
Businesses that meet these criteria are eligible to apply:
- Located within Marysville city limits,
- In business since on or before Jan. 1, 2020,
- Current Marysville business license endorsement,
- Fewer than 50 full-time employees or equivalent, including owner,
- Experienced interruptions, loss of sales, closure or curtailed operations, or other negative financial impacts due to restrictions imposed to address COVID-19, and
- Have not received other CARES Act funding.
Grant funds may be used to pay for wages, rent/mortgage, utilities, debt payments, insurance, cost of goods or supplies. Eligible businesses are encouraged to apply soon because grants will be awarded on a first come, first served basis and the city expects to distribute all available funds. Find more information and the application at https://www.marysvillewa.gov/1135/Business-Relief-Grant.
The City of Marysville is receiving an additional $393,753 in CARES funds through Snohomish County for local business relief. Distribution amounts to communities were based on population. To date, Marysville previously awarded $1,391,775 in Marysville CARES business grants this year. CARES stands for the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.
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The City of Stanwood has been selected to participate in Snohomish County's "County-Cities Partnership Grant Program". Participation in the program allows the City of Stanwood to offers Round 2 to those businesses that have not already received City or County CARES funds. Applications will be accepted from November 30 to December 7. Read more at https://stanwoodwa.org/479/Stanwood-SOARING-Grant-Program.
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Need food? Catholic Community Services, in conjunction with St. Pius X Catholic Church and Pacific Coast Fruit Company, is coordinating food box delivery on Wednesday, December 2, from 9am to 11am at St. Pius. Please share with those you know who may need food. Food boxes have protein, milk, cheese, fruits and vegetables.
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Join the City of Lynnwood this Friday, December 4th for a community Food Drive and Teen Clothing Drive! Donations support the Foundation for Edmonds School District and Holly House. Drop off donations in front of Lynnwood City Hall Friday between 9-12 p.m. and 3-5 p.m.
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We all miss the everyday comforts we used to take for granted. It is difficult to pass these months without the moments that usually bring us joy and make us feel connected. Difficult, but crucial. Especially now.
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Cumulative cases from January 2020 through December 1, 2020.
The Snohomish Health District recently made updates on how daily case counts are reported to help answer frequently asked questions. These include:
- Number of deaths
- Number of residents hospitalized with confirmed and suspected COVID
- Number hospitalized that require ventilators
- Change in totals from previous day’s reporting
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ESSENTIAL LINKS AND PHONE NUMBERS FOR UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION
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