Coronavirus updates: Washington state cases pass 10,700; Inslee outlines rollback idea
This page includes coronavirus developments around Washington state for Thursday, April 16.
Updated at 2:20 p.m.
Pierce County on Thursday reported 37 new COVID-19 cases and one new death.
The county’s total cases are now at 1,058 with 25 deaths.
One previous case was reassigned to another county, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
The new death involved a Parkland woman in her 70s with underlying health conditions.
The county is still not reporting testing totals, citing delays in state data reporting. The health department has released a statement on delays in data posting.
King County Metro reducing weekend bus service
Updated at 1:30 p.m.
King County Metro will reduce weekend bus service beginning Saturday April 18, and further reduce weekday bus service starting Monday, April 20. Water Taxi and First Hill Streetcar will continue to operate on previously reduced schedules.
This revised Reduced Schedule provides a core network of public transportation services to maintain access to critical supplies, services, and worksites across the region. Details about weekend changes will be posted online Thursday; canceled trip details weekday service will be revised and updated online Saturday.
Overall, Metro will operate with approximately 42% fewer buses, 36% fewer transit operators, and 27% fewer service trips than typical weekday service. Weekend trips will be reduced by 15% on Saturdays and 4% on Sundays.
The upcoming April 18 Reduced Schedule is among the latest steps in Metro’s response to COVID-19. Previous reductions in service took place March 23 and April 6. Those reductions helped maintain a sustainable transit agency amid ridership that has now dropped by about 70% compared to a year ago.
Drive-thru testing expanded in Lacey
Updated at 11:20 a.m.
Providence Medical Group has expanded its drive-thru COVID-19 testing in Lacey to anyone with symptoms of the illness, it announced Wednesday.
Now, a person is eligible if they have any of the following symptoms: a fever; new cough, congestion, or shortness of breath; and/or sudden loss of taste or smell, according to a Providence press release.
The Hawks Prairie drive-thru clinic in the parking lot at 2555 Marvin Road NE opened to high-risk patients in March, then expanded last week to include essential workers on its list of eligible patients.
The number of people tested per day at the site peaked March 23, according to Providence spokesperson Chris Thomas. The clinic had seen progressively fewer people since, enabling the expansion.
Anyone wishing to get tested should first call the clinic’s hotline at 360-486-6800, which is available during the same hours the clinic is open: 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. Caregivers talk through each person’s unique situation to determine whether testing is needed, Thomas said.
Washington state passes 10,700 cases
Updated at 8:35 a.m.
The Washington State Department of Health on Wednesday reported 89 new COVID-19 cases and 26 additional deaths.
That brings the state totals to 10,783 cases and 567 deaths, up from 10,694 cases and 541 deaths on Tuesday.
King County continues to be the hardest hit with 4,676 cases and 312 deaths. Snohomish County has 1,976 cases and 81 deaths while Pierce County reported a total of 1,022 and 24 deaths on its website.
Garfield County remains the only county in the state without a recorded case. There are 373 cases that haven’t been assigned a county.
The state has now conducted 124,283 tests, up from 122,854 on Tuesday. Of those tests, 113,500 — or about 91% — have come back negative.
Steps to combat COVID-19 will be phased out, Inslee says
Updated at 8:35 a.m.
Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday offered a framework of how and why Washington will roll back the measures he’s taken to combat the new coronavirus pandemic.
Inslee did not offer a timetable because he said that’s “unknowable” now, but he said the state will make a transition from the social distancing strategy to “targeted efforts to diagnose and recognize and protect and isolate individuals who have this disease and might transmit this disease.”
The governor added: “This transition will not be a light switch on and off. It will be a dial and we will dial it up and down as the data suggests and as our community responds. And it will be a phased approach.”
The transition would be made when two things exist together, Inslee said
“First, our social distancing has to be successful enough that we drive down the number of infected people where we can be confident we’re not going to have the curve start to rebound and go up again.
“The second stage is the individualized effort, where we test people rapidly, where we isolate them rapidly, where we treat them rapidly,” the governor said.
Inslee said mitigation efforts could be phased out in the opposite order of when they were put into effect.
That would mean the the partial business closures could come first, followed by the stay-at-home order, and then the prohibition on larger gatherings. Right now, all of them run through May 4.
“The pace of that will depend largely on how the data responds to what we’re doing. I was talking to a leader at Starbucks the other day ... and they have an approach of monitor and adapt. I think that’s a good way to look at this,” he said.
More coronavirus infections at state psychiatric hospital in Lakewood. New policies in place
Updated at 8:35 a.m.
More Western State Hospital patients and staff have tested positive for the coronavirus this month, sparking more policies to slow the spread, according to the Department of Social and Health Services.
There have been 28 staff members and six patients who have tested positive for the virus. There has been one patient death related to COVID-19 at the state-run behavioral health hospital in Lakewood.
Due to limited access to personal protective equipment, DSHS recently allowed staff to bring face masks from home to prevent further transmission and has increased testing among staff and patients. To date, the hospital has tested 522 patients and employees, department spokesperson Kelly Von Holtz said.
The department reported last month five employees and two patients contracted the coronavirus and that it had taken precautions to mitigate the outbreak.
The hospital educated staff on the virus, provided appropriate protective gear, taught protocol on wearing the gear, restricted visitors and screened all those who enter the facility.
The Washington State Department of Health visited the hospital in early April and reported that it has taken effective measures to prevent a much larger outbreak, according to a DOH press release.
“The outbreak of COVID-19 at Western State Hospital is serious,” said state epidemiologist Scott Lindquist, “but because of the proactive work of staff onsite, and the early adoption of infection control practices, their outcomes have the potential to be less damaging to patients, staff and the community.”
Container traffic at ports of Seattle and Tacoma drops amid coronavirus, trade trouble
Updated at 8:35 a.m.
The Northwest Seaport Alliance on Wednesday offered more details on what the coronavirus pandemic effects have been so far on trade volumes at its ports in Seattle and Tacoma.
In figures released Wednesday, the NWSA said that March container volumes fell about 22 percent from volume totals the same time last year.
According to the report, “The Northwest Seaport Alliance handled 264,133 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in March 2020 as total container volumes dropped 21.6 percent, compared to March 2019. Full imports declined 28.2 percent while full exports decreased 8.6 percent year over year.”
The numbers represent a total for Tacoma and Seattle ports, which is how the NWSA reports its numbers.
The drop in volumes was not solely blamed on COVID-19. The U.S.-China tariff battle already was having an impact in trade volumes at the start of the year before the local emergence of the outbreak, a point emphasized in an call with reporters in mid-March.
According to the NWSA’s report, “During the first quarter of 2020, there was a total of 32 void sailings due to a combination of lingering trade dispute and the pandemic. Of the 32 canceled sailings, 19 were in March as unprecedented disruptions from COVID-19 rippled across the global supply chain. The NWSA handled 788,882 TEUs year to date, a 15.4 percent decline from the same period last year. Full imports and exports declined 19.3 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively.”
Breakbulk cargo volumes were down 11.9 percent year over year, while auto volumes year to date were down 0.5 percent year over year, according to the NWSA.
Jobless rate in Washington increased to 5.1% in March
Updated at 8:35 a.m.
Washington’s unemployment rate increased to 5.1% last month and the state’s economy lost more than 11,000 jobs, though officials noted that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the workforce isn’t likely to be fully reflected until the April report is released next month.
March’s rate jumped from 3.8% in February, according to numbers released Wednesday by the Employment Security Department. The rate for April could be even higher since the widespread closing of restaurants and other businesses didn’t occur until mid-March.
“As a result, even if some firms started laying off workers as early as the second week of March, many still would have worked or received pay for at least part of the payroll period including the 12th, and thus their loss of employment is not yet fully reflected in the March report,” Paul Turek, economist for the department, said in a statement.
Washington state’s stay-at-home order, which has already been extended once, is currently in place through May 4, though Gov. Jay Inslee has warned that it is possible the order may have to be extended once again.
The national unemployment rate for March was 4.4 percent, and the rate in the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett region was 5.5 percent.
Last month, private sector employment decreased by 11,700 while the public sector increased by 600 jobs. The largest job growth was seen in construction and professional and business services. The largest losses in March were seen in leisure and hospitality, financial activities and manufacturing.
Job gains and losses are estimates based on a survey by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate counts the percentage of people who are unemployed and actively looking for work, and it doesn’t include those who have stopped looking for work.
This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 8:39 AM.
