Coronavirus updates: Minimum custody inmates released; farmworkers test positive
This page includes coronavirus developments around Washington state for Sunday, April 26.
Washington state reports 202 new cases
Updated at 6 p.m.
The Washington State Department of Heath reported on Sunday 202 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 11 additional deaths.
State totals are now at 13,521 cases and 749 deaths.
Washington state has now given 175,477 tests with 7.7% coming back positive. Of the total confirmed cases, 5.5% have resulted in death.
King County remains the hardest hit with 5,863 cases and 408 deaths. Snohomish County has 2,311 cases and 104 deaths while Pierce County has 1,244 cases and 46 deaths, according to the state. Garfield County remains the only county without a confirmed case.
Preliminary data on total hospitalizations for COVID-19 confirmed cases are now available here. The data represent cumulative counts for hospitalizations and are presented by admission date, date of illness onset, age, sex and race/ethnicity.
Downloadable data are now available again here. Data have been adjusted and are no longer presented by day. Data are now presented for cases and deaths by week by county and age.
Pierce County reports 14 new cases
Updated at 2:08 p.m.
Pierce County reported on Sunday 14 new COVID-19 cases and one additional death, a Tacoma woman in her 70s with underlying health conditions.
County totals are now at 1,321 cases and 48 deaths, up from 1,307 cases on Saturday.
Daily case totals can change as the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department receives new information. Adjustments can include correcting duplicate data, assigning a case to another county or learning a test was a false positive.
The county did not alter its totals by geographical area within the county on Saturday. Instead, the county reported 23 additional cases to the unknown category, which brought the total to 30. Of those cases, 27 were assigned a geographical area on Sunday. Three cases remain unknown.
Sunday’s geographical totals are listed below with Saturday’s numbers in parenthesis:
▪ Bonney Lake: 33 (no change)
▪ Central Pierce County: 103 (101)
▪ East Pierce County: 38 (36)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 72 (69)
▪ Frederickson: 45 (44)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 50 (no change)
▪ Graham: 42 (41)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 7 (no change)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 35 (no change)
▪ Lakewood: 121 (117)
▪ Parkland: 63 (59)
▪ Puyallup: 63 (61)
▪ South Hill: 73 (70)
▪ South Pierce County: 28 (25)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 17 (no change)
▪ Spanaway: 42 (40)
▪ Tacoma: 441 (428)
▪ University Place: 45 (44)
▪ Unknown: 3 (03)
Daily reports include cases received by 11:59 p.m. the previous day.
Mason County reports its first death tied to COVID-19
Updated 12:25 p.m.
A man in his 70s was the first person to die from the novel coronavirus in Mason County, public health officials announced late Saturday.
No other patient details were released. Although a Mason County resident, he had been hospitalized outside of the county, public health officials said.
As of Friday in Mason County, 19 of the 22 people confirmed to have the disease, have recovered and returned to work or their regular routine, according to the county. The three other cases required hospitalization. Those patients were considered high risk because of their advanced age or underlying health problems.
Minimum custody DOC inmates, including some from Pierce County, released amid pandemic
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
Inmates from Pierce County are among those who were released from state Department of Corrections facilities in the past week in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Gov. Jay Inslee, via an emergency proclamation and commutation order earlier this month, authorized the release of about 1,100 inmates who were convicted of non-violent crimes, some of whom are from the South Sound.
The state Supreme Court denied a petition 5-4 Thursday that sought the release of thousands of inmates who are close to release and those who are especially vulnerable to COVID-19.
DOC’s website Friday said 12 inmates and seven staff members at Monroe Correctional Complex have tested positive for the virus.
“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and need to provide more physical distancing within the state’s correctional facilities, the Department has implemented a limited transfer of minimum custody and work release incarcerated individuals to their communities,” DOC’s website says.
As of Friday there were roughly 400 people on DOC’s list of people released due to the governor’s emergency commutation — 54 from Pierce County. There also were two people from Pierce County listed as pending.
“The commutation is specific to those in custody whose judgment and sentences include those who do not have a conviction for a violent or sex offense and whose projected release date is prior to or on June 29, 2020,” the DOC list says. “It authorizes their transfer from confinement within seven days of the order, or as soon as can be reasonably achieved thereafter.”
The crimes of those from Pierce County include various gun and drug offenses, possessing stolen property, taking a motor vehicle without permission and burglary.
Several have lengthy criminal histories, but the offenses they were most recently serving time for are considered less serious.
Farmworkers test positive for COVID-19 at Washington orchard
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
Dozens of farm workers at a Central Washington orchard have tested positive for COVID-19, though they weren’t experiencing symptoms, according to a newspaper reported published Saturday.
Stemilt Ag Services, which operates the orchard, and local health officials tested the farm workers in East Wenatchee after some fruit packaging warehouse workers tested positive, The Spokesman-Review reported. The company said it decided to expand testing to orchard workers as a precaution.
Of the 71 agricultural workers who were tested, 36 were positive for COVID-19, Stemilt reported this week.
Despite social distancing measures in place at the orchards, there were a high number of positive cases, said Barry Kling, administrator at Chelan-Douglas Health District. Some people who have COVID-19 show no symptoms.
“We’ve been relying on symptom checks for deciding who needs to be tested, and who needs to be isolated,” Kling said. “And maybe we need to think differently about the whole thing.”
Stemilt was one of the first companies in the region to test a group of workers that was asymptomatic, but the company is still evaluating its next steps, said Roger Pepperl, Stemilt marketing director, in an email. Stemilt has been following Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention recommendations for social distancing.
Workers who tested negative will be retested and are in isolation, according to a Stemilt press release. All workers who were tested are work visa holders and arrived around February.
Effects of coronavirus hit Puyallup’s Step By Step and Farm 12 in form of layoffs
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
A Puyallup restaurant run by a nonprofit for low-income and underprivileged women has had to lay off staff to survive the financial impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
Six women were laid off, said Krista Linden, executive director of Step By Step and Farm 12. The women were not working enough hours to collect unemployment.
“We can’t give everyone a sustainable living wage. Our workforce and revenue are shrinking,” Linden said.
Step By Step applied for the Paycheck Protection Program through Columbia Bank but did not receive the loan. The program offers companies and nonprofits with up to 500 workers a low-interest loan for up to two months’ payroll. Most, if not all, of the loan will be forgiven if the employer keeps workers and doesn’t cut wages.
So many organizations applied, the funding dried up. Columbia Bank previously told The News Tribune that within 36 hours of launching the program, the bank received more loan requests than typically seen over the course of six to eight months.
In the fourth spending bill passed by Congress, legislators added $310 billion to replenish the program.
Linden said the nonprofit will apply again, but she isn’t sure if she will be able to bring back those who have been let go. The loan would sustain the organization for eight weeks, but if the pandemic continues, Linden said she doesn’t know what will happen.
“There are so many unknowns right now,” Linden said.
She kept her promise to the 60 employees: averaging out the salaries to provide a base salary to all for the first six weeks of the pandemic.
Many people have chosen to help clients themselves.
Several have handed over their stimulus check to Linden, who splits the $1,200 between two clients immediately. One partner in Seattle, Catalyst, received a $15 million donation and shared $4,000 with Step By Step. Eight clients were given $500.
Resident at Washington Soldiers Home in Orting tests positive
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
During proactive testing for all residents, the Washington State Veterans Homes learned that a resident of the Washington Soldiers Home is positive for COVID-19. The resident is asymptomatic and has been isolated in their room. Additional environmental cleaning is also taking place throughout the facility.
The homes are working closely with the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department and following guidance from CDC, CMS and the State Department of Health to ensure we are taking every possible precaution.
“The veterans and families we serve mean so much to us and news that this virus has entered our building is upsetting to all of us,” said Lourdes E. “Alfie” Alvarado-Ramos, director of the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs. “We are taking every possible precaution and will continue proactive measures to keep the virus from spreading in the Home. Our veterans and their family members are in extremely capable hands.”
Results are pending for the remaining ninety Soldiers Home residents and will be shared on our website at www.dva.wa.gov/covid.
This story was originally published April 26, 2020 at 8:50 AM.
