Coronavirus updates: Sea-Tac Airport to require face coverings; state reaches 16,891 cases
This page includes coronavirus developments around Washington state for Sunday, May 10.
Updated at 4:30 p.m.
The Washington State Department of Health on Sunday reported 217 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 10 additional deaths.
Statewide totals are now at 16,891 cases and 931 deaths, up from 16,674 cases and 921 deaths on Saturday.
King County continues to be the hardest hit with 7,007 cases and 500 deaths. Snohomish County has 2,681 cases and 117 deaths while Pierce County reported 1,321 cases and 48 deaths.
Garfield County remains the only county in the state without a confirmed case. There are 40 cases that haven’t been assigned a county.
The state has now conducted 248,875 tests with 6.8% coming back positive. Of those confirmed cases, 5.5% have resulted in death.
Pierce County reports 21 new cases
Updated at 1:45 p.m.
Pierce County reported 21 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Sunday and no additional deaths. One previous case was also misreported.
County totals are now at 1,688 cases and 60 deaths.
The county’s site assumes 882 people have now recovered from the virus, up from 873 on Saturday.
Daily case totals can change as the county receives new information about cases, finds duplicate data or is assigned cases that were originally attributed to other counties. The health department has released a statement on delays in data posting.
Sunday’s geographical totals are listed below with Saturday’s numbers in parenthesis:
▪ Bonney Lake: 38 (no change)
▪ Central Pierce County: 126 (125)
▪ East Pierce County: 48 (no change)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 83 (no change)
▪ Frederickson: 57 (55)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 51 (no change)
▪ Graham: 51 (no change)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 7 (no change)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 41 (no change)
▪ Lakewood: 176 (173)
▪ Parkland: 89 (88)
▪ Puyallup: 115 (114)
▪ South Hill: 89 (88)
▪ South Pierce County: 36 (no change)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 21 (19)
▪ Spanaway: 56 (no change)
▪ Tacoma: 546 (539)
▪ University Place: 50 (49)
▪ Unknown: 8 (no change)
Daily reports include cases received by 11:59 p.m. the previous day.
Sea-Tac Airport to require cloth face coverings
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
The Port of Seattle announced Saturday that it will require all passengers, visitors and workers, including Port employees, to wear cloth face coverings in the public areas of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport starting on May 18.
“Airport workers keep our region’s supply chain moving and support safe essential travel,” said Port of Seattle Executive Director Steve Metruck. “I am deeply grateful for the dedication they bring to their work. Many Port employees and partners and members of the public already wear cloth face coverings. This policy makes clear our commitment to public health, safety, and well-being.”
As part of its response to the global coronavirus pandemic, the Port began providing cloth face coverings to staff working in public facing roles on April 17 and encouraged employees to follow the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance to wear cloth face coverings in situations where it is difficult to maintain physical distancing.
Many partners across Port facilities already recommend or require face coverings for employees and passengers as an added safety measure — this includes airlines, retail and dining tenants, and government agencies including Transportation Security Administration, and CDC, and Customs and Border Protection.
The requirement will not apply to certain groups, such as those who cannot medically tolerate facial coverings and very young children. The Port will formally refine its policy in the coming days.
First responders get “early bird” opportunity at Brown Bear tunnel washes
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
Brown Bear Car Wash will open its tunnel locations one hour early through Tuesday to serve First Responders so that they can wash their vehicles without having to wait.
The special hours began Saturday morning, providing First Responders with a “front of the line” opportunity to have their vehicles professionally washed in a timely manner.
First Responder - Only Hours:
Sunday, May 10: 8-9 a.m.
Monday, May 11: 8-9 a.m.
Tuesday, May 12: 8-9 a.m.
For tunnel wash and self service locations, and more information about Brown Bear Car Wash, visit www.brownbear.com.
Unemployment woes grow with false claim filings
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
As the coronavirus pandemic leads to widespread unemployment, word is spreading that people’s identities are being fraudulently used to file claims for benefits.
An Associated General Contractors of Washington member bulletin sent this week stated, “AGC of Washington has received some fraudulent unemployment-benefit claims for individuals currently employed with AGC. Upon further investigation, it appears to be an issue for many companies across many industries in Washington state.”
The Seattle Times came across cases reported in King County.
A representative for Puyallup-based Absher Construction told The News Tribune on Friday it has discovered more than 20 such false claims involving its employees.
In response to questions, Employment Security Department’s communication director Clare DeLong told The News Tribune via email Friday the department was “seeing a substantial growth in the absolute number of fraud investigations.”
“That said, we are digging into the data to better understand two things: Is that growth proportional to the unprecedented growth in claims overall? And how much of the fraud flags are from actual bad actors versus the massive number of people new to the system who are making simple entry errors?” DeLong said.
DeLong added that “regardless of what we learn from that analysis, we are increasing our staff in the Special Investigations unit to address the increased demand.”
ESD commissioner Suzi LeVine has stated recently that the department has had over 1,000 percent increase in call volumes at its call centers. According to one ESD official, of the 265,000 claims in Washington state that have not been paid, 180,000 have further paperwork to complete.
Shutdown of tribal casinos deals blow to Indian Country
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
When the Kalispel Tribe of Indians closed its casino as the coronavirus took hold in Washington state, it essentially shut down its economy.
That difficult choice has played out nationwide as some 500 Native American casinos have voluntarily closed during the pandemic, often taking away tribes’ main source of income in an effort to protect people’s health in communities with limited medical resources.
The U.S. government authorized $8 billion for tribes in a coronavirus relief package in March, when most casinos closed, but it’s been slow to distribute the money, deepening the woes on reservations.
“We can’t fund any programs without the casino” — no health care, education, law enforcement or fire protection, said Phil Haugen, chief operating officer of the Kalispel Tribal Economic Authority.
Its Northern Quest Casino near Spokane closed for nearly two months, costing the tribe millions of dollars. But with restrictions starting to loosen nationwide, the casino reopened Tuesday with limits on the number of customers, frequent cleaning, and fewer slot machines and chairs at table games to ensure social distancing.
While other Native American-owned casinos have reopened or plan to in coming weeks, most are still closed. That’s also forced layoffs and furloughs among the more than 1 million people working for tribes, many of them in casinos.
Furloughed workers are getting by with unemployment benefits and health coverage that many casinos kept in place, said John DelMonte, president of UAW Local 2121, a union representing 1,200 card dealers at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut.
“We want to get back to work,″ said DelMonte, a casino employee.
While the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation says it’s losing millions of dollars a week, protecting workers is paramount. DelMonte said the tribe is listening to state officials as it decides when to reopen.
“Everybody is taking this pretty serious. That’s a good thing,″ he said. “To open and close again would be terrible. Better safe than sorry.″
It’s not clear when Foxwoods or the Mohegan Sun casino, also in Connecticut, will be back in business. The state plans to start easing coronavirus restrictions on May 20.
More than 5,000 employees at the casino complex owned by the Mohegan Tribe — nearly the entire workforce — have been furloughed but kept their health benefits, casino president Jeff Hamilton said.
He did not have a firm number on financial losses, “but we’re in an environment where there’s no revenue.”
“I don’t know that you ever make up lost revenue, and I think the concern is that ‘How is business impacted for the foreseeable future?’” Hamilton said. “Because you put an open sign up, doesn’t mean that everything is back to normal.”
This story was originally published May 10, 2020 at 8:46 AM.
