West Seattle, Washington
18 Wednesday
2:36 PM: Just announced by Gov. Inslee as he starts another media briefing: The Puget Sound region in the “Healthy Washington” plan – including King County – will move to Phase 2 starting Monday. He’s changed the rules somewhat, enabling areas to advance by meeting 3 of 4 criteria instead of 4.
He also says the pace of vaccinating people is picking up, but the current bottleneck remains how many doses they can get from the federal government.
2:43 PM: The briefing has moved quickly to Q&A. The first question is about people who’ve had their first dose of vaccine and are having trouble getting an appointment for their second one. State officials who answered say it’s dependent on your provider, and the governor says he’s hoping that trouble will ease with the feds sending more vaccine.
2:59 PM: One of the changes is that they’ll be monitoring metrics and potentially announcing phase-change eligibility every 2 weeks, instead of weekly. But overall, he says a major drop in case numbers is one big reason that several counties including ours can move ahead. … Here are details on the governor’s announcement. … This is a two-phase plan, so, the governor was asked, when will we find out about what’s in Phases 3 and beyond? No word on that yet, Inslee replied. … The briefing ended at 3:11 pm.
3:29 PM: In case you’re wondering “so what’s allowed in Phase 2?” see page 5 of this. Biggest changes are for indoor dining, fitness, bowling alleys, movie theaters – all will be allowed indoor operations at 25 percent capacity.
Tonight’s pandemic toplines:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Seattle-King County Public Health daily-summary dashboard, the cumulative totals:
*75,289 people have tested positive, 388 more than yesterday’s total
*1,241 people have died, 1 more than yesterday’s total
*4,763 people have been hospitalized, 27 more than yesterday’s total
*822,897 people have been tested, 4,865 more than yesterday’s total
One week ago, the four totals we track were 72,924/1,198/4,643/801,482.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them, county by county, on the state Department of Health page,.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: See them, nation by nation, here.
VACCINATED: More than 200,000 doses have been administered in King County. Still no West Seattle locations on the state list.
GOT INFO? Email us at westseattleblog@gmail.com or phone us, text or voice, at 206-293-6302 – thank you!
If you need to get tested for COVID-19, a one-day community clinic is coming to Madison Middle School next Tuesday (February 2nd). Here’s the announcement:
Neighborcare Health and Seattle Public Schools Present: Community Covid-19 Testing
Covid-19 testing is available for all students, staff, family, and community members in this outdoor event. Everyone is eligible to receive a test regardless of insurance or immigration status. Testing is also FREE for everyone. We will bill your insurance if you have it, but will not charge a fee if you do not have insurance or your insurance does not cover testing. On-site interpretation services available through phone.
Date: Tuesday, February 2nd, 2021 from 12:00-4:00 pm
Location: Madison Middle School: 3429 45th Avenue SWFor questions, please contact: Neighborcare Community Access Team at 206-333-2524
Here are flyers – in English, y en Español.
Vaccination acceleration is again tonight’s pandemic headline:
VACCINE UPDATE: While cautioning “we still have a long way to go,” Gov. Inslee said the vaccination pace is speeding up. 39,000 shots on Sunday, 39,000 on Monday – getting closer to the 45,000-a-daqy goal he recently announced. The feds will increase our state’s allotment by 16 percent, at least in the short term, he also announced. You can watch his briefing here.
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: Here’s what’s in today’s daily summary from Seattle-King County Public Health – the cumulative totals:
*74,901 people have tested positive, 174 more than yesterday’s total
*1,240 people have died, 13 more than yesterday’s total
*4,736 people have been hospitalized, 19 more than yesterday’s total
*817,432 people have been tested, 1,447 more than yesterday’s total
One week ago, the totals were 72,600/1,185/4,617/801,551.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
NATIONAL/WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 100.2 million cases worldwide, 25.4 million of them in the U.S. – see other nation-by-nation stats by going here.
VACCINE-INFO LINKS: The PhaseFinder is here – to determine whether you’re eligible yet – and known vaccination locations are here – but there are still NONE listed in West Seattle. The nearest ones – Sea Mar clinics in White Center and South Park – have run out of vaccine, according to online updates.
PANDEMIC PEOPLE: Health-care workers and volunteers have been called on as never before in the past year. Scroll through the Seattle-King County Public Health gallery.
NEED FOOD? Food Lifeline‘s South Park HQ offers emergency food boxes 2-5 pm Friday (January 29th), at 815 S. 96th.
GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!
Vaccination acceleration tops tonight’s pandemic roundup:
HALF A MILLION DOSES DELIVERED: Gov. Inslee says more people are getting vaccinated more quickly, and as of today, half a million doses had been given and reported. The 7-day rolling total is 23,000+ – just over halfway to the 45,000-a-day goal – but today they got close, with 40,000 reported in a 24-hour period. Read more about the progress here.
CITY READY TO VACCINATE MORE: Vaccination was one of the topics during this morning’s City Council briefing meeting. West Seattle/South Park Councilmember Lisa Herbold said she’s been told the city can “turn on a dime” in converting one of its current COVID testing sites to a mass vaccination site, when the city gets enough vaccine to do it.
BUT – WHERE TO GET YOUR SHOT? Still no general-availability (for those currently eligible) locations in West Seattle. None on this website’s list, either. We’re continuing to keep watch.
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: Here are the key points of the daily summary from Seattle-King County Public Health:
74.727 people have tested positive, 165 more than yesterday’s total
1,227 people have died, 12 more than yesterday’s total
4,726 people have been hospitalized, 1 more than yesterday’s total
815,985 people have been tested, 2,874 more than yesterday’s total
No one-week-ago numbers, as King County did not publish an update last Monday.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 99.7 million cases, 2,139,000+ deaths. See the other stats – nation by nation – here.
HAZARD PAY FOR GROCERY WORKERS: Most will get $4/hour extra as the pandemic continues, as a result of City Council action today.
NEED FOOD? This week’s nearest Food Lifeline distribution is 2-5 pm Friday (January 29th) at 815 S. 96th.
GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!
If a grocery-store worker has a job in Seattle with a company that employs at least 500 people worldwide, they could be in line for a temporary $4/hour raise. This afternoon, the City Council approved the $4/hour hazard-pay proposal – mentioned briefly here last week. Here’s the slide deck with key points:
You can read the full bill here. The bill was sponsored by West Seattle-residing at-large Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda and co-sponsored by six others including District 1 Councilmember Lisa Herbold. In a news release announcing the vote, Mosqueda is quoted as explaining, ““Hazard pay for grocery workers is the least we can do to recognize the dangers they face when going to work, including unmasked customers, customers who are coughing and not respecting social distancing rules, and cleaning of commonly used surfaces. Many grocery stores were paying their workers hazard pay early on in the pandemic, but that recognition quickly went away last summer, despite grocery store workers still facing serious risk of contracting COVID-19 at their workplace.”
Here are tonight’s pandemic updates:
KING COUNTY’S NEWEST NUMBERS: We start with the cumulative totals from the Public Health daily-summary dashboard:
*74,562 people have tested positive, 348 more than yesterday’s total
*1,215 people have died, unchanged from yesterday’s total
*4,725 people have been hospitalized, 38 more than yesterday’s total
*813,111 people have been tested, 497 more than yesterday’s total
One week ago, the King County totals were 71,982/1,179/4,593/796,252.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 99.2 million cases and 2,129,000+ deaths, 419,000 of them in the U.S. – see the nation-by-nation breakdown here.
VIRUS VARIANT: One day after Snohomish County announced the state’s first two detected cases of the so-called “UK variant,” Pierce County announced it has one too. What do you need to know about the new variant? Here’s what Seattle-King County Public Health published this weekend.
GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!
Here are the mid-weekend pandemic toplines:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: First, the cumulative totals from Public Health‘s daily-summary dashboard:
*74,214 people have tested positive, 413 more than yesterday’s total
*1,215 people have died, 1 more than yesterday’s total
*4,687 people have been hospitalized, 4 more than yesterday’s total
*812,614 people have been tested, 2,505 more than yesterday’s total
One week ago, those totals were 72,274/1,188/4,665/790,996.
WEST SEATTLE TRENDS: Here’s our weekly check of this stat, with numbers shown in two-week increments via the “geography over time” tab on the daily-summary dashboard, combining the totals from the West Seattle and Delridge “health reporting areas” (HRAs). For the past two weeks, 210 positive test results; 268 in the 2 weeks before that; 299 in the two weeks before that. … We also are noting WS death totals each week; the HRAs are the most precise count. The total deaths for the entire pandemic in the two HRAs comprising West Seattle: 52, one more than a week ago.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 98.7 million people have tested positive, and more than 2,120,000 people have died; U.S. deaths exceed 417,000. Most cases: U.S., India, Brazil, Russia, UK (third consecutive week with the same top five). See the breakdown, nation by nation, here.
‘MORE CONTAGIOUS’ VARIANT: The more-contagious “UK variant” of the virus has shown up in our state for the first time, the Department of Health says:
Today, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) along with the Snohomish Health District and the UW Medicine Virology Lab, announce that the B.1.1.7 variant of COVID-19 has been found in testing samples from our state.
The UW Medicine Virology Lab detected two cases of the COVID-19 variant, known as B.1.1.7 or SARS-CoV-2 VOC 202012/01 in specimens collected from two Snohomish County residents. The lab screened 1,035 samples between December 25, 2020 and January 20, 2021 to detect mutations associated with B.1.1.7, first identified in the United Kingdom (UK). The lab confirmed the variant by whole viral genome sequencing. Data collected so far suggests a low prevalence of the B.1.1.7 variant in western Washington. Although these are the first detected B.1.1.7 variants in the state, it is likely that other cases exist and will come to light through ongoing surveillance.
Read the full announcement here. And note that while it’s more contagious, the DOH says, “there is no conclusive evidence that it causes more severe illness or increased risk of death.”
REOPENING: West Seattle Grounds says everyone tested negative, so it’s reopening tomorrow.
HELPING: 10 am-3 pm tomorrow (Sunday), Alki UCC (6115 SW Hinds) is collecting food and other donations – details here.
GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!
47 weeks have now passed since the Friday night announcement of the first King County case of COVID-19. Here are tonight’s updates:
KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Public Health daily-summary page, cumulative totals:
*73,801 people have tested positive, 356 more than yesterday’s total
*1,214 people have died, 8 more than yesterday’s total
*4,683 people have been hospitalized, 19 more than yesterday’s total
*810,109 people have been tested, 5,123 more than yesterday’s total
And from the COVID Vaccination Among King County Residents dashboard, our weekly check:
*126,474 people have received one dose
*21,910 people have received both doses
*214,425 doses have been allocated to King County
One week ago, the first four totals were 71,231/1,180/4,566/788,074, and the vaccination totals were 82,382/11,640/141,375.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 98.1 million cases, 2,107,000+ deaths – see the nation-by-nation numbers here.
PHASE 1 FOR WEEK 3: In the third “Roadmap to Recovery” report since the governor’s announcement of a new reopening plan, everyone’s still in Phase 1 for the week ahead. This week’s announcement also included the launch of this dashboard to monitor how regions are doing.
COUNTY HEALTH OFFICER’S BRIEFING: Dr. Jeff Duchin provided his weekly video briefing – see it here. He said we’re still on a “COVID rollercoaster,” though right now it’s going down. He also discussed the vaccination situation.
SPEAKING OF VACCINATIONS … still no mass vaccination sites planned on the peninsula. But as we mentioned last night, several local pharmacies are expected to offer it – eventually. As for large health-care providers, they’ve been vaccinating off-peninsula – CHI Franciscan‘s closest location, for example, is St. Anne Hospital in Burien. Sea Mar says it’s been vaccinating at locations including White Center BUT it does not have any vaccine available right now. Dr. Duchin said in his briefing today that more than 300 King County providers have signed up to offer vaccine – but many haven’t received any at all, yet.
COVID CLOSURE: West Seattle Grounds says it’ll be closed again Saturday because its staff is dealing with possible exposure.
NEED FOOD? Reminder – the Greater Seattle Filipino-American SDA Church has another food distribution tomorrow, 2:30 pm Saturday (January 23rd), 2620 SW Kenyon, first-come first-served.
GOT INFO OR PHOTOS? westseattleblog@gmail.com or text/voice 206-293-6302 – thank you!
Thanks for the tip. North Admiral coffee shop West Seattle Grounds says it’ll be closed through tomorrow because of possible virus exposure. From the WSG website:
We are sorry to announce that we will be closed January 22nd and 23rd (Friday and Saturday) in order to take all the correct precautions to keep our staff and community safe. We have been informed that our staff may have been exposed to the Coronavirus so we are making sure that all of our lovely staff gets negative tests back until we resume our regular takeout service. We encourage you to continue to stay the positive and wonderful customers that you are and enjoy all the wonderful January weather we are having!
Like many businesses, WSG has dealt with closures before, and its website has links for showing extra support to the shop and its employees.
Vaccine updates top tonight’s roundup:
VACCINE UPDATES: If you’re eligible and interested in getting vaccinated, you might be having a tough time getting an appointment. Even for those who qualify, broad availability hasn’t happened yet – at least not in West Seattle. We’ve seen signs of future potential availability – for example, the Safeway lookup suggests there may eventually be appointments at the Roxbury and Admiral stores. Walgreens says vaccinations will eventually be available at all of its stores (there are two in our area). Bartell Drugs doesn’t expect to see vaccine before next month. The city and county plan large-scale vaccination sites, but locations haven’t been announced yet. … Statewide, today’s health briefing included this stat: 335,000 doses have been administered in our state, out of 820,000 received so far. The state expects almost 100,000 more doses to arrive next week but to meet the “45,000/day” goal, will need triple that.
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Public Health daily-summary dashboard, here are today’s cumulative totals:
*73.445 people have tested positive, 521 more than yesterday’s total
*1,206 people have died, 8 more than yesterday’s total
*4,664 people have been hospitalized, 21 more than yesterday’s total
*808,114 people have been tested, 6,632 more than yesterday’s total
One week ago, the four totals we track were 70,547/1,165/4,495/782,951.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them, county by county, on the state Department of Health page.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 97.4 million cases worldwide, 24.6 million of them in the U.S. See the nation-by-nation breakout here.
TESTING SITE OPENS: Last night, we reported on a new testing kiosk arriving unannounced at Don Armeni Boat Ramp. Today, it opened:
(Photo sent by Stewart L.)
It’s open 8 am-3 pm Mondays-Saturdays. Appointments are available here.
MANDATORY HAZARD PAY? Earlier in the pandemic, many grocery workers got an extra hourly boost of “hazard pay,” often $2/hour. Most employers eventually dropped it. Now City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda (the West Seattleite who holds citywide Position 8) has proposed legislation requiring $4/hour hazard pay for Seattle grocery workers. Here’s the announcement.
NEED FOOD? 2-5 pm tomorrow at Food Lifeline (815 S. 96th) HQ, emergency food boxes are available.
GOT PHOTOS/TIPS? 206-293-6302, text or voice, or westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
Tonight’s pandemic toplines:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Seattle-King County Public Health daily-summary dashboard, the cumulative totals:
*72,924 people have tested positive, 324 more than yesterday’s total
*1,198 people have died, 13 more than yesterday’s total
*4,643 people have been hospitalized, 26 more than yesterday’s total
*801,482 people have been tested (*data adjustment – this is 69 fewer than yesterday’s total)
One week ago, the four totals we track were 70,094/1,151/4,494/782,443.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them, county by county, on the state Department of Health page,.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: See them, nation by nation, here.
NEW TESTING SITE? We discovered a not-yet-active Curative kiosk at Don Armeni Boat Ramp tonight and hope to find out tomorrow when it’ll be activated.
2 BRIEFINGS TOMORROW: The state health leaders’ weekly briefing was abruptly postponed from today to tomorrow, 9 am, same livestream link … Gov. Inslee also plans a media briefing tomorrow, 2;30 pm, to be streamed here.
NEED FOOD? The Greater Seattle Filipino-American SDA Church has another food distribution planned, 2:30 pm Saturday (January 23rd), 2620 SW Kenyon, first-come first-served.
GOT INFO? Email us at westseattleblog@gmail.com or phone us, text or voice, at 206-293-6302 – thank you!
ORIGINAL REPORT, 5:59 PM WEDNESDAY: Just spotted this at Don Armeni Boat Ramp while out on pre-dusk rounds. Curative has been partnering with the city to open walk-up COVID-testing kiosks like these, starting with two in Northgate and the Central District in early December, then adding three more in late December – but no West Seattle locations until now. These kiosks offer self-administered mouth-swab tests, with a Curative employee there to observe and receive; you get the results electronically within 48 hours, the city says. West Seattle isn’t yet on the map, so we have messages out to see how soon this is expected to open. (In the meantime, the city’s test site at Southwest Athletic Complex continues operating six days a week.)
ADDED 8:50 AM THURSDAY: Curative tells us this is opening today. And in fact, overnight it’s been added to their map, so you can use their website to book an appointment. Looks like the available appointments start at noon.
The data update is back tonight, so that’s where we’ll start:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: Here’s what’s in today’s daily summary from Seattle-King County Public Health – the cumulative totals – note that there was no update yesterday:
*72,600 people have tested positive, 618 more than Sunday’s total
*1,185 people have died, 6 more than Sunday’s total
*4,617 people have been hospitalized, 24 more than Sunday’s total
*801,551 people have been tested, 5,299 more than Sunay’s total
One week ago, the totals were 69,522/1,148/4,488/780.231.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
NATIONAL/WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 96.1 million cases worldwide, 24.2 million of them in the U.S. – see other nation-by-nation stats by going here.
VACCINE DASHBOARD: The state dashboard now has a tab for vaccination stats. From the announcement:
In the new tab, you can view the number of doses given in each county and statewide in a map view or by date. For the state level, you can also see the number of doses delivered to providers and the number of doses delivered through the federal long-term care program. The new tab also shows the population percentage and number of people who have received at least one dose of vaccine and completed the recommended number of doses in each county and the state.
All healthcare providers in our state (including hospitals, pharmacies and primary care providers) are required to report when they give a COVID-19 vaccine to a patient within 24 hours of doing so. Most vaccination data should appear in the dashboard within seven days of when the vaccine was given. We will update the dashboard three times per week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
VACCINE-INFO LINKS: The PhaseFinder is here – to determine whether you’re eliglble yet – and known vaccination locations are here. (Check with your health-care organization/provider first, once you’re eligible.)
BRIEFING TOMORROW: State health officials will present their weekly briefing at noon Wednesday – here’s the link for the live stream.
NEED FOOD? Food Lifeline‘s South Park HQ offers emergency food boxes 2-5 pm Friday (January 15th), at 815 S. 96th.
GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!
Expanded vaccination eligibility tops tonight’s pandemic roundup:
400,000 MORE ARE ELIGIBLE: As reported here during the governor’s mid-afternoon briefing, the “everyone’s eligible” age in our state has just dropped five years, to 65. But that doesn’t mean everyone 65 and older can get vaccinated immediately – not enough doses have been delivered. However, only 42 percent of what’s been received in Washington so far has been administered, so it’s hoped that broadening the eligibility will raise that percentage. The governor also says there’s a deadline now – vaccine has to be given within a week of a provider receiving it.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Are you eligible? This website will tell you. If you are, it should also point you to places that have received vaccine. Also, this website has a list. In general, though, you’re urged to consult your health-care provider first.
COUNTY COUNCIL PROPOSAL: When the King County Council meets tomorrow, accelerating vaccination is on its agenda. Here’s the announcement:
With vaccination rollouts hitting snags nationwide, the King County Council will on Tuesday consider legislation to ensure all the resources of King County can be brought to bear in ensuring everyone has access to the COVID-19 vaccine.
Sponsored by King County Councilmembers Rod Dembowski, Jeanne Kohl-Welles, Reagan Dunn, and Pete Von Reichbauer, it would require the Executive to lay out a detailed and robust plan to deliver the vaccines countywide, lower barriers to access, and have most King County residents vaccinated by June, with priority for older people and others at higher risk of death. The legislation will be considered and could be approved at the full council meeting Tuesday.
The 1 pm meeting will be livestreamed here.
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: No update today (and we haven’t yet found an explanation – the county has not skipped holidays previously) – so no daily summary from Seattle-King County Public Health.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 95.5 million cases, 2,022,000+ deaths. See the other stats – nation by nation – here.
GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!
3:04 PM: Right now, many pandemic-related questions are focused on vaccination availability – people wondering when and how they will get vaccine access. Viewable above (live and archived afterward), Gov. Jay Inslee is providing updates. We’ll add notes as it goes.
Inslee says it’s “the start of what we think of as the second stage of our vaccination initiative” – and says he has six announcements. First, the state is moving into Phase 1B of vaccinations, and changing the first tier so all Washingtonians 65 and older are eligible to get vaccinated immediately.
Also, those 50 and over who are living in “multigenerational households” are eligible immediately. (Note: This does not apply to parents living with children, but rather people giving cqre to someone such as a grandchild or niece/nephew, the state says.) Once about half the 1B “first tier” is vaccinated, they’ll move to the next tier.
2nd announcement: A statewide goal to make 45,000 vaccinations a day available in Washington as soon as possible. That’s three times the current rate. “Over the next several months we’ll be building toward that goal.” That’s dependent on receiving “more doses from the federal government,” he cautions.
3rd announcement: “We’re going to set up mass vaccination sites statewide,” with National Guard and other support. He lists four sites for starters, none in Seattle or King County (though as he notes, King County has some under development).
4th announcement: New criteria to ensure health-care providers are administering the vaccine appropriately – 95 percent of vaccine doses must be given within a week of being received by a provider. Any doses already received have to be given by next Sunday.
5th announcement: PhaseFinder is being launched so you can figure out where you are in terms of eligibility. He says that’s supposed to help you figure out where to get vaccinated, too. Here’s the link.
6th announcement: A public-private partnership to help marshal vaccination efforts. “We are going to mobilize thousands of people to save people from this virus.” He introduces pre-announced guests including reps of Microsoft, Starbucks, Kaiser Permanente, Sea Mar Community Health, and SEIU Local 1199.
3:24 PM: So far the execs haven’t offered specifics on their roles except that they’re supporting the effort. Kaiser Permanente Washington’s president notes that her company has mass-vaccination experience and is “all in.”
3:33 PM: Now speaking, new Health Secretary Dr. Umair Shah. He says the state has given more than 294,000 vaccine doses so far – 42 percent of what the state’s received – a better percentage than last week’s briefing. He stresses again that starting Phase 1B-1 means everyone 65 and older is eligible. He says those in 1B-1 should start hearing from their providers,. If you’re not in 1B-1, “continue to be patient.” But he also says they’re stressing measures to ensure leftover vaccine will not go to waste – giving providers some discretion (stand by for details on that).
3:45 PM: Now Q&A. First question about how many wasted doses – no specific number yet but “very minimal.” … The governor says “partners'” strategy previously might have been “we’ll wait for the doses and then figure out how to get them out” (paraphrasing), but now the plan is to plan to be ready for whatever arrives. He also noted that 2,400 pharmacies are now going to be part of the delivery system. … Next question observes, as we noted above, that it’s not clear what the “partners” will be doing, so they’re asking for elaboration. Also: How do you find out? Dr. Shah says providers have plans for contacting their members/patients; also, PhaseFinder is supposed to show locations near you “where the vaccine has been delivered.” He adds that another tool will be launched within two days – a dashboard with more info on how much vaccine has been received and administered, by county. … State officials promise they’ll make it easier to find out where the vaccine is. The governor adds that “the goal is to give people many kinds of opportunities.” But he cautions that 1.5 million are now eligible – and they only have a tenth of the supply that would require – so be patient. (Added: The state is getting 100,000 “first doses” each week right now.)
3:57 PM: Now that the governor’s eligible (69 years old), he says he plans to get vaccinated within several days (along with wife Trudi Inslee). … How can the state get more vaccine? Pfizer has assured the state that they’re increasing production, the governor says, for one. “We should have high confidence that the numbers of doses will increase in coming months.” He also urges providers to make appointments rather than holding back for fear they won’t have vaccine. … The briefing wraps up at 4:13 pm; the archived video should be available above shortly.
BOTTOM LINE: Though many more people are eligible, there’s not enough vaccine available – yet – for them all to get it immediately. Public Health Seattle/King County elaborates on this here. … Here’s what the governor’s website has published about all this.
Big data corrections top tonight’s pandemic updates:
KING COUNTY’S NEWEST NUMBERS: The cumulative totals from the Public Health daily-summary dashboard are all below last night’s numbers, due to this data correction:
Now, the numbers:
*71,982 people have tested positive, 292 fewer than yesterday’s total
*1,179 people have died, 9 fewer than yesterday’s total
*4,593 people have been hospitalized, 72 fewer than yesterday’s total
*796,252 people have been tested, up 5,256 from yesterday’s total
One week ago, the King County totals were 68,472/1,140/4,447/773,510.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 95 million cases and 2,030,000+ deaths, 397,000 of them in the U.S. – see the nation-by-nation breakdown here.
VACCINE NEWS: Dr. Anthony Fauci says two more vaccines – one the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine – are within weeks of seeking federal approval for use.
NEED FOOD? The Delridge Grocery Cooperative is able to offer essential food boxes to Delridge-area families in need through donations – contact DGC to find out more.
GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!
Midway through the weekend, here are the pandemic toplines:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: First, the cumulative totals from Public Health‘s daily-summary dashboard:
*72,274 people have tested positive, 1,043 more than yesterday’s total
*1,188 people have died, 8 more than yesterday’s total
*4,665 people have been hospitalized, 99 more than yesterday’s total
*790,996 people have been tested, 2,922 more than yesterday’s total
One week ago, those totals were 67,945/1,140/4,397/771,203.
WEST SEATTLE TRENDS: Here’s our weekly check of this stat, with numbers shown in two-week increments via the “geography over time” tab on the daily-summary dashboard, combining the totals from the West Seattle and Delridge “health reporting areas” (HRAs). For the past two weeks, 271 positive test results; 220 in the 2 weeks before that; 422 in the two weeks before that. … We also are noting WS death totals each week; the HRAs are a more precise count than the zip codes we used previously, since two of West Seattle’s five ZIP codes also stretch outside the area. The total deaths for the entire pandemic in the two HRAs comprising West Seattle: 51, same as a week ago.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 94.4 million people have tested positive, and more than 2,022,000 million people have died; U.S. deaths exceed 395,000. Most cases: U.S., India, Brazil, Russia, UK (same as last week). See the breakdown, nation by nation, here.
MORE THAN A MORATORIUM? An eviction moratorium continues. But the rent will eventually be due. The Seattle Renters Commission is supporting a movement to do more – a movement advocating canceling rent and mortgages.
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46 weeks have now passed since the Friday night announcement of the first King County case of COVID-19. Here are tonight’s updates:
KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Public Health daily-summary page, cumulative totals:
*71,231 people have tested positive, 684 more than yesterday’s total
*1,180 people have died, 15 more than yesterday’s total
*4,566 people have been hospitalized, 71 more than yesterday’s total
*788,074 people have been tested, 5,123 more than yesterday’s total
And from the new COVID Vaccination Among King County Residents dashboard (updated weekdays):
*82,382 people have received one dose
*11,640 people have received both doses
*141,375 doses have been allocated to King County
One week ago, the first four totals were 67,068/1,138/4,375/767,530 – we’ll add vaccination numbers after tracking them for a week.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 93.8 million cases, 2 million deaths – see the nation-by-nation numbers here.
PHASE 1 FOR WEEK 2: The second “Roadmap to Recovery” report since the governor’s announcement of a new reopening plan is out. It shows every region in the state will continue in Phase 1 next week. The weekly reviews are on Fridays.
OPEN-AIR SERVICE: As part of the rules for Phase 1, some food/drink establishments are seating patrons in “open air” – sort of an indoor/outdoor hybrid.
ANOTHER NEW DASHBOARD: Besides the vaccine dashboard mentioned above, King County also has one with weekly updates on outbreaks – what type of settings they’re happening in, for ecample.
COUNTY HEALTH OFFICER’S BRIEFING: Dr. Jeff Duchin provided another video briefing, saying we’re on a “roller coaster” – see it here. He expressed concern about the more-contagious new variant (though it hasn’t been detected here yet) – “beware and prepare” to be ready, he said. “The virus has gotten smarter and faster.”
GOT INFO OR PHOTOS? westseattleblog@gmail.com or text/voice 206-293-6302 – thank you!
In the first week of the new statewide “Healthy Washington” reopening roadmap, businesses are still exploring the fine print. For food and beverage businesses, though indoor dining is still banned in Phase 1, “open-air” service is allowed as well as outdoor seating. That means establishments such as Best of Hands Barrelhouse (Instagram photo above) that have walls with multiple windows can offer 25 percent capacity seating with those windows open. The Lodge in The Junction plans to start offering open-air seating tomorrow; the West Seattle Junction Association tells us Matador and JaK’s Grill have it too, and others are planning to follow. This is in addition to the numerous establishments that already have patio and/or “pod” outdoor seating, from Mission Cantina (WSB sponsor) and several Alki spots in the north, to places like The Bridge and The Westy in the south. You can read the new state guidelines here. Phase 1, by the way, will last at least one more week; the state is announcing every Friday what phase regions will be in as of the following Monday, and today’s news is that everyone stays in Phase 1 – although you can see on page 4 here that the Puget Sound region, including King County, was close.
Tonight’s virus-crisis update:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Public Health daily-summary dashboard, here are today’s cumulative totals:
*70,547 people have tested positive, 453 more than yesterday’s total
*1,165 people have died, 14 more than yesterday’s total
*4,495 people have been hospitalized, 1 more than yesterday’s total
*782,951 people have been tested, 508 more than yesterday’s total
One week ago, the four totals we track were 66,486/1,132/4,377/765,546.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them, county by county, on the state Department of Health page.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 93.1 million cases worldwide, 23.3 million of them in the U.S. See the nation-by-nation breakout here.
SITUATION REPORT: Elaborating on some of the trends we mentioned last night while summarizing state health officials’ briefing last night, here’s the newest statewide situation report.
SFD’S MOBILE TEAM ROLLS: As promised, the city’s first phase of the new vaccination program got going today:
Our Mobile Vaccination Teams began operating today, visiting adult family homes in the City to provide residents and staff with the first COVID-19 vaccine dose (Moderna). Read more about the vaccination teams here: https://t.co/2FTiwZuMdR 👏
*consent given by patients for photos pic.twitter.com/PY37cF3F3z
— Seattle Fire Dept. (@SeattleFire) January 14, 2021
NEED FOOD? 2-5 pm tomorrow at Food Lifeline (815 S. 96th) HQ, emergency food boxes are available.
GOT PHOTOS/TIPS? 206-293-6302, text or voice, or westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
Tonight’s pandemic toplines:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Seattle-King County Public Health daily-summary dashboard, the cumulative totals:
*70,094 people have tested positive, 572 more than yesterday’s total
*1,151 people have died, 3 more than yesterday’s total
*4,494 people have been hospitalized, 6 more than yesterday’s total
*782,443 people have been tested, 2,212 more than yesterday’s total
One week ago, the four totals we track were 65.631/1,117/4,340/763,306.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them, county by county, on the state Department of Health page,.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: See them, nation by nation, here.
VACCINATION UPDATES: This was the main topic of today’s weekly briefing by state health officials. Our state has received 624,000+ doses so far, and has administered about 32 percent of them – 201,660. While that’s not fast enough, they say that statewide the rate is getting up to 15,000-20,000 per day, and that’s encouraging. They hope to expand to Phase 1B within a few days but urge everybody who’s eligible in Phase 1A to hurry and get their shots. One big challenge, said Health Secretary Dr. Umair Shah – they need a more consistent supply funneled by the feds. They’re not only not getting a consistent supply, they’re not getting a long-range projection that will further enable planning.
TRENDS: Also at the briefing – last week’s downward trend in cases has ended and many parts of the state are headed back upward, spiking. The hospitalization rate, however, is not spiking … so far. You can see the entire briefing by going here.
GOT INFO? Email us at westseattleblog@gmail.com or phone us, text or voice, at 206-293-6302 – thank you!
Here are the latest local pandemic toplines:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: First, the numbers, as shown in today’s daily summary from Seattle-King County Public Health – the cumulative totals:
*69,522 people have tested positive, 334 more than yesterday’s total
*1,148 people have died, 7 more than yesterday’s total
*4,488 people have been hospitalized, 22 more than yesterday’s total
*780.231 people have been tested, 2,448 more than yesterday’s total
One week ago, the totals were 65,144/1,110/4,327/760,782.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
NATIONAL/WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 91.5 million cases worldwide, 22.8 million of them in the U.S. – see other nation-by-nation stats by going here.
VACCINATION TEAMS: The City of Seattle will set them up through SFD to go to small adult care homes and vaccinate residents and staff, starting Thursday. Here’s the announcement.
BRIEFING TOMORROW: State health officials will present their weekly briefing at noon Wednesday – here’s the link.
NEED FOOD? Food Lifeline‘s South Park HQ offers emergency food boxes 2-5 pm Friday (January 15th), at 815 S. 96th.
GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!
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