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Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers and Health Officer Dr. Chris Spitters on Tuesday morning provided the first COVID-19 briefing of 2021.
Discussion focused on the roll-out of COVID vaccine doses here and continued use of federal funding in the pandemic response.
Dr. Spitters said roughly 11,000 vaccine doses already have been administered in the county, mainly among health care workers and emergency responders. Thousands more will be vaccinated in the weeks and months ahead.
While the vaccines provide hope, people still must wear masks, avoid indoor gatherings and maintain social distance. “Right now, we're really reliant on everybody to continue to do all those things we've been asking since the start of the pandemic,” Spitters said.
Meanwhile, the community has secured funding to help the county work toward recovery, Executive Somers said.
“The Emergency Coordination Center in Everett has focused on meeting the benchmarks that were really established by Governor Inslee’s safe start plan and that those goals were really reducing the secondary impacts of COVID-19 on Snohomish County residents in two areas,” he said. “One is really supporting our communities, but also getting ready for implementation of vaccination and recovery.
Watch: https://youtu.be/d2-ItBEqsq4
Or read the transcript: https://www.snohd.org/DocumentCenter/View/6189
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Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday shared details of a new roadmap for fighting COVID in Washington.
As he outlined during a televised press conference, the Healthy Washington plan goes into effect Monday, Jan. 11. It replaces the Safe Start plan that has determined much of the statewide response to COVID since spring, including restrictions on businesses, public gatherings and recreation.
The plan takes a regional approach to attacking the virus, dividing Washington into eight areas. It focuses less on hitting hard-target case numbers and more on trends.
Snohomish County’s performance will be tracked as part of a region that includes King and Pierce counties. The roadmap’s regions were developed based on available health care services.
Under the new plan, there initially will be two phases, with all regions starting in the first phase, the most restrictive. It is like Phase 1 under Safe Start, with no indoor dining permitted but other essential businesses such as manufacturing and construction continuing to operate following specific guidance.
Phase 2 would allow more indoor activity, including dining at 25% capacity. People would still be required to wear masks and maintain social distancing.
To move into the next phase, the region must hit each of these metrics:
- Decreasing trend in two-week rate of COVID cases per 100,000 in population. The decrease must be greater than 10% in the most recent two-week period compared to the prior two-week period.
- Decreasing trend in the two-week rate of new COVID hospital admission rates per 100,000 in population. The decrease must be greater than 10% in most recent two-week period compared to the prior two-week period.
- COVID test positivity of less than 10%.
- ICU occupancy (total) of less than 90%.
The state Department of Health will calculate and share performance results each Friday, with regions cleared to move to Phase 2 eligible to do so the following Monday. All four metrics must be met to advance, and a region must continue to meet at least three metrics to remain in Phase 2. A region can be returned to Phase 1 if it is unable to meet two or more metrics. State and local public health officials also may move a region back to Phase 1 if necessary.
Watch the recording.
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The latest heat maps of COVID-19 case rates and case counts by ZIP Code in Snohomish County are now available on the Snohomish Health District case counts page.
The maps are updated every couple of weeks at www.snohd.org/casecounts under “Local Case Rates.”
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The state Department of Commerce on Dec. 31 announced that over 7,800 small businesses will receive a Working Washington grant. Gov. Jay Inslee announced the new round of business assistance in November and approved $100 million for the grants.
Public health measures have disproportionately impacted certain industries such as full-service restaurants, fitness centers and indoor entertainment venues like bowling alleys. This recent round of grant funding prioritized small businesses in those sectors and that have less than $5 million in annual revenue.
Commerce awarded approximately 7,200 businesses a $12,500 grant. In addition, it awarded $4,500 to approximately 630 businesses that received a recent $8,000 business resiliency grant and happened to also meet the priority criteria for the Working Washington grant. This ensured resiliency grant recipients received the same funding amount they would have received had they applied for a Working Washington grant.
See the full press release for more information.
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Starting Jan. 14, Sno-Isle Libraries will try to ease the public’s distress with a new Issues That Matter series, Pandemic Pressures: Supporting Community and Family Mental Health. The series will focus on the profound effects the coronavirus pandemic has had on everyone’s emotional well-being with events aimed to help individuals and families of all ages.
All Issues That Matter events will be online as Zoom webinars.
“We’re all in a pressure cooker,” Sno-Isle Libraries Programming Coordinator Anne Murphy said. “We’ll focus on reducing the stress, not on what’s causing the stress.”
Sno-Isle Libraries staff are working with public health officials in Snohomish and Island counties to identify issues, develop event topics, recruit panelists and provide current mental-health resources. Organizers plan to schedule several Pandemic Pressure events in early 2021.
The health officials emphasize that it’s normal now to feel “not OK” amid the pandemic, so it’s more important than ever to destigmatize and normalize asking for help to deal with emotional and mental-health needs. People don’t have to bottle up feelings of fear, grief, sadness, anger and frustration that the pandemic has stirred up. Everyone has those feelings now and it’s a struggle to process them.
The first Issues That Matter event, Wellness in Uncertainty, is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14. Panelists will help individuals and families learn if their feelings are normal or if they’re a sign to seek help, how to identify warning signs in yourself and loved ones and share information about available resources. Online registration for this event is open now.
See the full press release for more information.
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Homage, Red Cross, Hero's Cafe & the Lynnwood Senior Center are sponsoring a community donation drive to benefit Veterans. Please bring new or gently used cold weather clothing, gear, or even gift cards to Homage on Saturday, Jan. 9.
These items are especially appreciated: Winter Clothing: coats, hats, gloves, thermal underwear, neck warmers, scarves, warm socks, sweatshirts, plastic sheets or camping tarps.
Can't make the event? There are other ways to give: Ship winter clothing to Homage Attn: Operation Warm Veterans or drop off items at Homage Mon-Fri from 9am-4pm
See the Facebook post for more information.
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You can use your smartphone to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about any side effects after getting the COVID-19 vaccine. You’ll also get reminders if you need a second vaccine dose.
V-safe is a smartphone-based tool that uses text messaging and web surveys to provide personalized health check-ins after you receive a COVID-19 vaccination. Through v-safe, you can quickly tell CDC if you have any side effects after getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Depending on your answers, someone from CDC may call to check on you and get more information. And v-safe will remind you to get your second COVID-19 vaccine dose if you need one.
Your participation in CDC’s v–safe makes a difference — it helps keep COVID-19 vaccines safe.
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The Joint Information Center’s FAQs about COVID-19 vaccine are now available in additional languages at www.snohd.org/covidvaccine.
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The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department last week began delivering a second round of Economic Impact Payments as part of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 to millions of Americans who received the first round of payments earlier this year.
The IRS emphasizes that there is no action required by eligible individuals to receive this second payment. Some Americans may see the direct deposit payments as pending or as provisional payments in their accounts before the official payment date of January 4, 2021. The IRS reminds taxpayers that the payments are automatic, and they should not contact their financial institutions or the IRS with payment timing questions.
As with the first round of payments under the CARES Act, most recipients will receive these payments by direct deposit. For Social Security and other beneficiaries who received the first round of payments via Direct Express, they will receive this second payment the same way.
Anyone who received the first round of payments earlier this year but doesn’t receive a payment via direct deposit will generally receive a check or, in some instances, a debit card. For those in this category, the payments will conclude in January. If additional legislation is enacted to provide for an additional amount, the Economic Impact Payments that have been issued will be topped up as quickly as possible.
See the full press release for more information.
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Most health insurers in Washington state have signaled their intent to immediately waive all cost-sharing for COVID-19 vaccinations. Policyholders will be covered regardless of where they receive the vaccination.
The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act directs health insurers to waive copays and deductibles for COVID-19 vaccinations 15 days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authorizes their use. Given that timeline, insurers would be required waive these fees after Jan. 1, 2021. But many health insurers in Washington state are covering the vaccinations as soon as their policyholders can receive them and regardless of whether the provider offering the vaccine is in the plan’s network.
“I’m very grateful to the health plans for their willingness to do whatever they can to encourage people to get vaccinated,” said Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler. “Their decision to waive cost-sharing for COVID-19 vaccinations removes the financial barrier many face and will have a tremendous impact on their policyholders’ health and our state’s economic recovery.”
“Washington’s health plans are committed to doing our part to bring an end to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Association of Washington Healthcare Plans Executive Director Chris Bandoli. “With the FDA’s emergency authorization of an effective vaccine, that means ensuring the more than 6 million Washingtonians covered by our plans that cost and choice of provider will not be barriers to receiving this critical immunization when it becomes available to them.”
See the full press release for more details.
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Are you looking for new ideas for fun things to do or ways to stay connected? Starting this week and going for 4 weeks, we'll post "Time Together During COVID" ideas on the Snohomish Health District activities page: www.snohd.org/activities. Each week has a theme, mini-poster checklist, and activity instructions. You can do as many--or as few--as you'd like. At the end of January, the 4 mini-posters can be put together to make one large poster!
This week's theme is "Connection." The activities are:
- Bake-off
- Cards and letters
- Cooking
- Indoor camping
- Movie marathon
- Video calls
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Cumulative since January 2020.
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ESSENTIAL LINKS AND PHONE NUMBERS FOR UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION
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