Coronavirus updates: Mayor releases statement on Tacoma’s first death
This page includes coronavirus developments around Washington state for Sunday, April 5.
Updated at 5:15 p.m.
The Washington State Department of Health reported 393 new COVID-19 cases and 28 additional deaths on Sunday.
Statewide totals are up to 7,984 cases and 338 deaths, up from 7,591 cases and 310 deaths on Saturday.
King County continues to be the hardest hit, with 3,158 cases and 208 deaths, while Snohomish County has 1,486 cases and 47 deaths. Pierce County reported a total 688 cases and 10 deaths.
Of the state’s 39 counties, 37 have reported cases, with Benton (166), Clark (145), Island (132), King (3,158), Pierce (536), Skagit (159), Snohomish (159), Spokane (199), Whatcom (142) and Yakima (316) all reporting more than 100 cases. Fifteen counties have reported at least one virus-related death.
There are 1,018 cases that have not been assigned to a county.
Washington has now tested 91,375 people, with positive results at 9% and 4.2% of positive cases resulting in death.
Pierce County reaches 688 cases
Updated at 2:20 p.m.
Pierce County reported 68 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing its total to 688 cases.
The county also reported the first deaths in Tacoma — a woman in her 90s with underlying health conditions — and Key Peninsula — a man in his 80s with underlying heath conditions. Pierce County now has 10 virus-related deaths.
Pierce County has tested 7,114 residents in private and public labs, according to the State Department of Heath. But with the state data system experiencing delays, there are a high number of unassigned lab tests. The DHS released a statement on the delay.
Sunday’s geographical totals are listed below with Saturday’s numbers in parenthesis:
▪ Bonney Lake: 20 (16)
▪ Central Pierce County: 39 (35)
▪ East Pierce County: 20 (14)
▪ Edgwood/Fife/Milton: 30 (25)
▪ Frederickson: 18 (16)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 41 (39)
▪ Graham: 20 (18)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 5 (no change)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 17 (15)
▪ Lakewood: 58 (50)
▪ Parkland: 32 (30)
▪ Puyallup: 33 (31)
▪ South Hill: 39 (31)
▪ South Pierce County: 9 (no change)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 7 (6)
▪ Spanaway: 23 (21)
▪ Tacoma: 254 (241)
▪ University Place: 22 (19)
▪ Unknown: 1
Daily reports include cases received by 11:59 p.m. the previous day.
State will send surplus ventilators to hot spots
Updated at 12:20 p.m.
The state of Washington will return more than 400 ventilators received from the Strategic National Stockpile to the SNS inventory to help states facing higher numbers of COVID-19 cases, Gov. Jay Inslee announced Sunday.
“These ventilators are going to New York and others states hardest hit by this virus,” Inslee said. “I’ve said many times over the last few weeks, we are in this together. This should guide all of our actions at an individual and state level in the coming days and weeks.”
Washington state continues to prepare for increased hospitalizations and the necessary treatment of serious cases of COVID-19. The state recently purchased more than 750 ventilators, which are expected to arrive over the next several weeks.
“I spoke with the governor after conferring with the Washington State Hospital Association to determine what help Washington could offer other states,” said Vice Admiral (ret.) Raquel Bono, M.D., Director of Washington State COVID-19 Health System Response Management. “Thanks to the mitigation efforts the governor has put in place and the cooperation of Washingtonians, we have seen fewer infections in our communities than anticipated. Our current status allows us to help others who have a more immediate need.”
It is important that Washingtonians continue to stay home, wash hands and maintain physical distancing, Inslee said in the statement. The data shows that current community mitigation strategies are working to slow the spread of COVID-19, and must be sustained to ensure Washington’s continued success.
“We are especially concerned that physical distancing outside the Puget Sound needs to improve to sustain our gains as more cases are diagnosed across the state. Please do your part and remember that we are all in this together,” Inslee said.
Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards releases statement on Tacoma’s first death
Updated at 10:40 a.m.
Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards released a statement on Sunday saying her office had been noticed by the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department that Tacoma had suffered its first confirmed death — a woman in her 90s — due to COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. The loss will be reflected in the health department’s case count later this afternoon, the statement read.
“As a community, we have collectively suffered a heartbreaking loss, and I hope you will keep this woman and her family in your thoughts and prayers,” Woodards said in a statement. “Together, we mourn with those who mourn across the world because of this deadly virus.
“During these challenging and difficult times – as we work with our community partners at Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department and the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management to address COVID-19 impacts – health and safety continues to be a top priority. We will continue to take every action we can to limit the toll on our families and our community.”
Woodards went on to urge the community to continue to follow Gov. Jay Inslee’s ‘Stay Home, Stay Healthy’ order.
“In addition, I encourage you to protect and care for yourself and those around you by following the best practices for hygiene and social distancing recommended by Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department,” Woodards’ statement read.
“Please do not underestimate the seriousness of COVID-19. Make your choices today, and each day going forward, with deep personal accountability and compassion for all the neighbors whose lives you may unintentionally impact. Every indication tells us that this will be a long road and that things will get worse before they get better, but we are stronger together. We can each find ways to care for one another in this critical time. We will get through this.”
Driver licenses expiration dates extended
Updated at 8:20 a.m.
Gov. Jay Inslee has allowed the Department of Licensing to temporarily extend the expiration dates of driver licenses.
The DOL will send letters to people whose driver licenses are set to expire in the next 90 days, from April 3 through July 3. These card holders’ expiration date will be extended for 90 days.
The new expiration date will show up on the driver record if it is pulled by law enforcement. Those affected will not receive a new card. It is possible to renew online.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has also granted an extension on the validity of commercial driver licenses (CDL) and commercial learner’s permits (CLP) that were valid on February 29 and expire on or after March 1, 2020.
DOL will send letters to CDL and CLP holders set to expire during this time notifying them their license is extended to June 30, 2020. Commercial drivers should carry a copy of their expired medical certificate to show their license or permit expiration date was on or after March 1, 2020.
States lack key data on virus cases among medical workers
Updated at 8:20 a.m.
Experts and health officials who are trying to plan a response to the coronavirus outbreak are missing a critical piece of information — the number of health care workers who have tested positive for the disease.
Washington state faced the first major outbreak of COVID-19 in the nation, but health officials have not kept track of how many doctors and nurses have the disease. New York, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, also lacks infection figures for medical staff, according to Jill Montag, spokeswoman with the New York State Department of Health.
That information can help save lives, said Dr. Grete Porteous, an anesthesiologist in Seattle who has worked on health care emergency preparedness and crisis management. It previously helped reduce risks to medical personnel during the much smaller SARS outbreak of 2003-04, she said.
With the medical profession facing shortages of basic protective gear, “the question should be asked: are there ways that we can improve what we do to make care safer for everyone?” Porteous said. “Without regional and national public health data on COVID-19 infections in health care personnel, it is difficult to envision how to start answering this question.”
During the SARS outbreak, Porteous said, data about “an alarmingly high rate of infection and death” in medical staff led to improved rules around infection protocol and use of personal protective equipment.
Ruth Schubert, spokeswoman for the Washington Nurses Association, said that same data are needed for COVID-19.
“We are urging the (Department of Health) and the emergency operations team at the state level to begin collecting and reporting this information,” she said.
Transit agencies gets federal money to help
Updated at 8:20 a.m.
Transit agencies in the Puget Sound region will get more than $500 million in federal help to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.
The Seattle Times reports the Federal Transit Administration announced this week how it would distribute $25 billion included in the recently passed federal coronavirus relief package. The funding is meant to backfill lost funding for transit systems and help cover extra cleaning costs, as ridership plummets and tax revenues sink.
“This wasn’t a stimulus, this was a relief package,” said Justin Leighton, executive director of the Washington State Transit Association. Transit systems across Washington could seek more help from the state Legislature or federal government, Leighton said.
The federal funding in the latest aid package can be used for backfilling losses, covering operating costs dating back to Jan. 20 and paying extra cleaning costs — a broader scope than federal funds typically aimed at construction. The money can cover costs such as driver pay, fuel and administrative leave for employees.
The Puget Sound region will get about $538 million, to be distributed to Metro, Sound Transit, Washington State Ferries and some smaller systems including Community Transit and Kitsap Transit.
That’s about triple what the region would get in federal transit funding in a typical year, according to the Puget Sound Regional Council, which will distribute the money.
Advocates want fewer patients at Western State during pandemic
Updated at 8:20 a.m.
Patient advocates have asked the state to reduce the number of patients at the Washington’s inpatient psychiatric hospitals in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and the state said it plans to.
“The usual procedures to discharge patients have long-resulted in lengthy waitlists of patients waiting to get out,” Disability Rights Washington and other advocacy groups wrote the state Department of Social and Health Services on Thursday about Western State Hospital in Lakewood and Eastern State Hospital near Spokane.
“It is therefore imperative to undertake non-traditional methods to reduce the population of both hospitals right away in order to most effectively protect staff and patients from COVID-19.”
The Associated Press reported Friday that the state plans to release up to 60 patients who are civilly committed to Western State, which has 850 beds, in response to staffing shortages that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. There will be an effort during the next week to discharge or transfer those patients to “state-funded residential settings,” the AP reported.
Western State had 157 patients from Pierce County, 57 from Thurston, 34 from Whatcom and one from Benton County as of Friday.
Seventeen staff members and six patients have tested positive at Western State, and one patient died, DSHS’s website reported Friday.
Sean Murphy, the assistant secretary for DSHS’s Behavioral Health Administration, told The News Tribune Friday that the agency starts the discharge planning process when a patient arrives at the hospital and that it looks for patient stability and recovery throughout their treatment.
“We are looking for folks that are eligible for discharge right now, and we are certainly pulling folks together to see if we can remove barriers to discharge,” Murphy said.
In addition to patients who are discharged home to friends and family, he said, some are transferred to assisted living homes or other facilities.
Sumner plastic company starts making medical face shields
Updated at 8:20 a.m.
A 56-year-old family company in Sumner that produces plasticware for farmers began making plastic face shields recently to help equip health care providers responding to the coronavirus pandemic.
McConkey’s partial owner, Derek Moeller, said the company’s face shields already have gone to first responders and health care workers across Pierce County, Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The FBI has placed an order.
The McConkey plant, at 1615 Puyallup St., is set to produce about 20,000 shields a week. Moeller said once company officials realized they had the equipment to create medical protective gear, it wasn’t a question. Of the company’s 70 staff, 18 have been reassigned to make masks.
“The key thing is what happens if we don’t help?” he said. “(Health care workers) are brave to go into that position, and they deserve all the protection that they can get. If they are not protected or safe, our ability for hospital capacity goes way down, and that would be really tragic.”
Two weeks ago, Moeller and staff saw the need in protective medical supplies and began to see if they could help. Much of America’s medical protective gear is produced in China, where the government halted medical supply exports, creating a shortage, according to national news outlets.
Staff created a prototype design based on what they could produce and sent it to health care professionals to see if it would work, Moeller said. Once it was approved, they told Sumner and Pierce County government officials to get the word out to first responders and health care systems. Requests began flooding in.
Production began on March 27. Plastic recycled from water bottles is rolled out to create a clear, plastic sheet. The plastic is then stamped into the shape of a shield, and a headset is attached.
This story was originally published April 5, 2020 at 8:24 AM.
