Coronavirus updates: Inslee calls for safety equipment; DSHS receives supplemental funding
This page includes coronavirus developments around Washington state for Thursday, April 2.
Updated at 2:45 p.m.
Pierce County on Thursday reported a total of 498 COVID-19 cases and seven deaths, with 5,299 tested as of March 28.
While it noted the county had 80 new cases as of Thursday, its previous day’s listed total was 417. While there was no immediate comment, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department previously has told The News Tribune discrepancies can occur as numbers are adjusted or cases are reassigned as investigations unfold.
Wednesday evening, the Washington state Department of Health offered updated numbers for case totals and deaths statewide.
The DOH website had not posted updated totals since those collected March 28. Since that time, it noted that the state’s disease reporting system had been overrun in reporting both positive and negative test results, causing the system to overload. The totals offered for cases still did not appear to be a complete update as the state works to get back on track.
According to the state health department, on March 29 Washington had a total of 5,062 cases, 5,515 by March 30 and 5,984 on March 31, with 247 deaths and 74,798 people tested so far.
Parks announce additional modifications in operations
Updated at 12:45 p.m.
North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National Recreation Area and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area announced additional modifications to operations in response to guidance from the Washington State Health Department.
The National Park Service (NPS) is working servicewide with federal, state, and local authorities to closely monitor the COVID-19 pandemic.
Effective Friday, North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National Recreation Area, and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area will be closed to all park visitors until further notice. State Route 20-North Cascades Highway, which runs through the park, will remain open to just west of the town of Newhalem. The closure point on the east side will remain at milepost 177 (Early Winters Campground).
All owners/operators of facilities where primary access is gained through NPS lands are permitted access through closed areas as necessary to maintain and/or occupy their facilities.
DSHS receives supplemental funding
Updated at 9:45 a.m.
Some Washington residents who receive Basic Food benefits will have additional funds available for March and April 2020. Congress approved extra benefits up to the maximum allowed for each household. In Washington state, this means DSHS is giving additional benefits to approximately 277,000 households.
“Having the ability to purchase more healthy food is critically important during these unprecedented times,” explained Babs Roberts, director of DSHS’ Community Services Division. “We’re glad the U.S. Congress extended these emergency benefits to Washington residents. This can help people to reduce the number of times they need to go shopping for groceries and also limit the number of people in stores, helping keep us all safe and healthy at home.”
Recipients will get the difference between their regular monthly benefit and the maximum amount for their household size. For example, a two-person household that typically gets $200 per month in food benefits will receive an additional $155 in emergency benefits for March and April, bringing the monthly total to $355. Some households already receive the maximum benefit amount and so will not see an increase.
People who are just now applying for benefits in March and April will receive the maximum household benefit amount once their application is approved. The average additional benefit amount is $155; some will get more and some will get less. The benefits do not have to be paid back and do not affect any recipients’ immigration status. If Congress extends these additional benefits in future months, DSHS will issue extra benefits for those months.
The emergency benefits for March will show up on EBT cards on April 4. Households who already received their regular April benefits on April 1-3 will receive the April supplement on April 4, and those who receive their normal benefits on April 4-20 will receive the additional amount on the usual date they receive benefits.
Gov. Jay Inslee calls on firms to manufacture safety and testing equipment
Updated at 8:15 a.m.
Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday called on Washington firms to manufacture safety and testing equipment in the fight against COVID-19, saying that President Trump has not ordered companies nationwide in a World War II-like effort to make those items.
Inslee said the state has distributed over 1 million pieces of personal protective equipment, but more is urgently needed. In addition to recruiting manufacturers to shift over to making items such as surgical masks and parts for test kits, the governor repeated his call for Trump to invoke the Defense Production Act for a national effort to manufacture personal protective equipment.
Inslee’s comments came as The Washington Post reported that the federal government’s emergency stockpile of respirator masks, gloves and other medical supplies is running low and is nearly exhausted because of the coronavirus outbreak, leaving the Trump administration and the states to compete for personal protective equipment in a freewheeling global marketplace rife with profiteering and price-gouging.
In response to a question, Inslee said he and other governors don’t know how much is in the national stockpile. Washington has an ongoing order for more safety equipment. The federal government has not been able to supply it fast enough to meet the needs of nurses, doctors, maintenance workers at hospitals and long-term care facilities, firefighters, police officers and other emergency responders, he said.
The state needs surgical masks, swab tests, saline solution, vials, N95 masks, gloves, surgical gowns, and face shields, the governor said.
“If you are a business that can make any of these products or even components of these products, you will have an infinite demand because the entire nation is suffering what we are on the scarcity of these products. So don’t worry about the demand. Whatever you can make, we will find a place to sell it. We will use it first and then the rest of the nation can use it as well,” Inslee said.
The state Department of Commerce said as of Wednesday morning, there were 350 manufacturers in the pipeline to participate in the effort to make personal protective equipment. About 40 distilleries have retooled in the last two weeks to manufacture hand sanitizer.
TPU halts electric rate increases for 3 months
Updated at 8:15 a.m.
Tacoma Public Utilities has delayed a 2 percent increase to customers’ power bills in the face of the coronavirus outbreak. The TPU board passed a resolution Tuesday that delays the rate increase by three months. The increase will go into effect July 1 instead of April 1.
“We believe it’s the right thing to do for our customers and community at this time,” Tacoma Power superintendent Chris Robinson said at a Tacoma City Council meeting on Tuesday.
The increase translates to roughly 84 cents per month, according to TPU. The move will cause a loss in revenue to TPU of about $1.8 million. That money will be made up through TPU’s reserve fund.
The decision to increase power rates was made in October 2018 in response to an expected revenue loss of $21 million if rates were not increased. TPU will reassess the rate increase when it gets closer to July 1.
Pierce County officials can decide how to use test kits sitting in storage, feds say
Updated at 8:15 a.m.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department can decide what to do with 1,000 COVID-19 test kits that have been sitting in storage for the past week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said Wednesday.
The test kits were left over from a five-day drive-thru testing site at the Tacoma Dome in March.
“We provided supplies to support the Community Based Testing Sites (CBTS), and anything that remains that they haven’t used yet, they are free to use with as they see fit,” said Savannah Brehmer, digital information officer for FEMA Region 10, which includes Washington state.
The announcement comes a day after local government officials said it was “irresponsible” that the test kits were sitting unused while medical workers, first responders and other at-risk populations could likely use them.
The health department said it had been waiting to hear back from the federal government, which has the final decision on how to use the kits. The department confirmed Wednesday it received official word from FEMA that it will be able to distribute the remaining tests locally.
“We have had a community-based testing plan in development, and now (that) we have this good news from FEMA, we will dust off that plan to work with our local partners to plan smaller scale community-based testing,” Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department spokesperson Steve Metcalf said in an email to The News Tribune.
Pierce County death toll now at 7; total cases at 423
Updated at 8:15 a.m.
Pierce County reported 46 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. The county now has a total of 423 cases and seven deaths, with 5,299 tested as of March 28.
The latest death involved a Puyallup women in her 80s with underlying health conditions, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
The department in recent days also has been reassigning locations to some of the earlier reported deaths.
The department noted in an update Wednesday, “A death we classified as a Tacoma resident is now classified as a Lakewood death. The county’s first death, originally listed as Puyallup, also has been reclassified as Central Pierce County, according to details provided Tuesday night to The News Tribune in response to questions about the reclassification.
Pierce County case number totals announced Wednesday by geographic location within the county are listed below with the last reported totals from Tuesday in parentheses. Numbers may be higher/lower because of continued redistribution of totals as case investigations continue.
▪ Bonney Lake: 12 (no change)
▪ Central Pierce County: 22 (19)
▪ East Pierce County: 9 (6)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 20 (14)
▪ Frederickson: 13 (9)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 24 (27)
▪ Graham: 13 (12)
▪ JBLM: 6 (4)
▪ Key Peninsula: 3 (2)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 13 (11)
▪ Lakewood: 33 (23)
▪ Parkland: 22 (13)
▪ Puyallup: 25 (24)
▪ South Hill: 22 (18)
▪ South Pierce County: 8 (no change)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 6 (no change)
▪ Spanaway: 15 (18)
▪ Tacoma: 142 (139)
▪ University Place: 15 (12)
Thousands of laptops, hard copy learning packets ready for distribution
Updated at 8:15 a.m.
Tacoma Public Schools has launched a laptop distribution program for students who do not have access to a device amid school closures from coronavirus.
The first round of distribution includes 2,500 laptops that were surplussed from TPS schools and refurbished, said district spokesperson Dan Voelpel. The 30,000-student district is prioritizing laptop distribution to seniors to ensure they can complete their graduation requirements, in addition to all Advanced Placement (AP) students.
Last week, state Superintendent Chris Reykdal directed school districts across the state to have a remote learning plan in place by Monday. Providing students with laptops will help students participate in remote learning and engage with their teachers, according to TPS.
Students that already have a laptop or other online learning tools, including an iPad or tablet, are asked to use those to ensure there will be enough laptops for those who need them.
Pickup is available between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. at two locations: Mount Tahoma High School 4634 S. 74th St. and the Professional Development Center (PDC), 6501 N. 23rd St.
Depending on grade level, students can pick up their laptops between April 1 and April 7, first come, first served:
▪ Grade 12, AP students: April 1-3, 6, 7
▪ Grades 9-11: April 2, 3, 6, 7
▪ Grades 6-8: April 3, 6, 7
▪ Graces K-5: April 6, 7
Families will need to provide their student’s ID number to receive a laptop.
The laptops do not come with internet access. The district is working with individual families to help provide access to internet, including seeing if they qualify for 60 days of free internet service from Comcast.
The district already provided 650 laptops to high school students last week and has ordered another 2,400 using the district’s technology levy. A distribution date for those has not been announced.
In addition to online learning, the district is providing learning packets for students, both online and in hard copy. The hard copy packets are being handed out at all 10 middle school locations at TPS and also delivered through the Meals on Bus Wheels program.
This story was originally published April 2, 2020 at 8:21 AM.
