Coronavirus updates: Inslee issues Safe Start proclamation for re-opening Washington
This page includes coronavirus developments around Washington state for Monday, June 1.
Updated at 12:40 p.m.
Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler issued an emergency order protecting consumers from receiving surprise bills for lab fees related to medically-necessary diagnostic testing for COVID-19.
His order applies to both in-state and out-of-state laboratories, when a provider orders diagnostic testing for COVID-19.
“We know people are under tremendous stress as we fight this pandemic,” said Kreidler. “We want to make sure they’re not worrying about receiving a surprise medical bill while trying to take care of their own or their loved one’s health.”
His order also encourages health insurers to notify his office if out-of-network laboratories are not publishing cash prices or if they do not accept the published case price as final payment for COVID-19 diagnostic testing.
Drive-Thru testing available in Tacoma in June
Updated at 12:40 p.m.
QFC and Fred Meyer are offering free drive-thru COVID-19 testing throughout June at the Tacoma Dome on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
All patients must pre-register at www.krogerhealth.com/covidtesting. Testing is open to anyone who qualifies on the pre-registration link. No insurance needed and test results will be available in 48 hours.
Inslee issues Safe Start proclamation
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
Gov. Jay Inslee issued his Safe Start proclamation on Sunday before the Stay Home, Stay Healthy order expired at 11:59 p.m.
The governor announced Safe Start — Washington’s Phased Reopening plan on Friday during a press conference where he detailed the county-by-county approach.
“Thanks to Washingtonians pulling together, we can transition fully to our county-by-county approach to safely reopen,” Inslee said. “If we remain diligent and committed to more effective ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we will continue to save lives and open up more businesses while protecting our friends and neighbors.”
Washington will move through the phased reopening county-by-county allowing for flexibility and local control to address COVID-19 activity geographically.
Effective June 1, counties may apply to John Wiesman, secretary of Washington State Department of Health, to advance phases. Applications will be evaluated by a county’s ability to meet target metrics and will be considered holistically in their readiness and ability to respond.
Under the plan, the secretary may approve a county’s request to move completely to the next phase, or may only approve certain activities in the next phase.
“We can’t think this means the virus has been defeated. It has not gone away,” Inslee said. “But while we prepare to take the next step forward toward a new normal, we need to continue to trust the science and maintain the same level of care today as we did three months ago.”
Pierce County moves forward to apply for Phase 2 of the state’s COVID-19 recovery plan
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
Pierce County’s plans to move into Phase 2 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Safe Start plan moved forward Sunday when Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s Board of Health unanimously approved sending an application to the state.
Phase 2 allows retailers to resume in-store purchases, restaurants to reopen with 50 percent capacity and table sizes no larger than five diners, and the re-start of new construction, real estate, hair and nail salons, and barbers.
The Board of Health approval is part of a process. The Pierce County Council must endorse the application in its Monday morning meeting, and County Executive Bruce Dammeier needs to submit the application to the Secretary of Health.
The county meets seven of the 10 state’s new targets.
Here’s where TPCHD says Pierce County currently measures on the state targets:
▪ Fewer than 25 cases per 100,000 over 14 days. Pierce County: 18.3 cases
▪ Hospitalization trend for COVID-19 is flat or decreasing. Pierce County: flat
▪ Transmission rate is one, meaning when someone tests positive, they infect one other person on average. Transmission rate in Western Washington is currently one.
▪ 10 percent of licensed hospital beds occupied by patients. Pierce County: 8.9 percent
▪ 50 tests administered per COVID-case. Pierce County: 37.3 tests per case
▪ 92 percent of tests are positive. Pierce County: 2.7 percent
▪ Median time from symptom onset to test collection is fewer than two days. Pierce County: two days
▪ 90 percent of cases contacted by investigators within 24 hours of positive lab results. Pierce County: 89 percent
▪ 80 percent of contacts are reached within 48 hours of a positive lab result. Pierce County: 82 percent
▪ Two or fewer outbreaks at workplace or facilities for counties larger than 300,000. Pierce County: zero outbreaks last week
Gov. Jay Inslee announced Friday that new benchmarks, some with lower thresholds, would determine if a county could slowly reopen businesses and services. Counties can apply as soon as June 1.
Inslee said that the state will approve counties on a case by case basis and warned that counties could be “demoted” back to Phase 1 if it cannot maintain progress and meet targets.
Health Director Anthony Chen said if the county is approved for Phase 2, residents need to continue to practice public health measures, because the virus’ spread can change quickly.
“Everyone, you, me, everyone in Pierce County needs to continue to practice all the hygiene habits that we have acquired over the past few months,” he said to the board. “We have to maintain physical distance. We have to use face coverings when we’re in public.”
New virus rules for farms, nursing homes in Washington state
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
Employers must provide agricultural workers with face masks, more hand-washing stations and more frequently disinfect work surfaces under new coronavirus rules established Thursday by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.
Also Thursday, Secretary of Health John Wiesman signed an order for all residents and staff in nursing homes to be tested for COVID-19 by June 12, and all residents and staff in assisted living facilities with a memory care unit to be tested by June 26. The state will provide test kits and personal protective equipment for administering tests to every facility at no cost.
The nation’s first deadly coronavirus outbreak was at a Seattle-area nursing home where more than 40 people died. In early May the state’s COVID-19 response team said at that time more than 60% of the coronavirus deaths in Washington were linked to long-term care facilities and more than 250 such locations had reported at least one COVID-19 case.
The new agricultural rules are intended to protect the approximately 100,000 farmworkers in the state from getting the coronavirus, Inslee said.
“”Every time we eat there was a hand that provided our sustenance,″ Inslee, a Democrat, said in Olympia. The new rules would help protect both workers and farmers, he said.
Inslee issued the emergency proclamation as the harvest season moved into high gear, especially in the central Washington farm belt that grows many of the nation’s apples, cherries and other crops.
The new rules call for farm and produce warehouse laborers to be divided into groups of no more than 15 people who live together, are transported to fields together and work together, Inslee said. Staying in such groups will help curb the spread of COVID-19, he said.
Specifically, the new rules require employers to provide free face masks and other personal protective equipment, Inslee said.
State reports 19 new cases on Sunday
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
The Washington State Department of Health on Sunday reported 353 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and no additional deaths.
Statewide totals are now at 21,702 cases and 1,118 deaths, up from 21,349 cases and 1,118 deaths on Saturday.
King County continues to be the hardest hit with 8,092 cases and 567 deaths. Yakima County has 3,585 cases and 95 deaths while Snohomish County has 2,967 cases and 148 deaths. Pierce County reported 1,947 cases and 73 deaths likely caused by COVID-19.
Garfield County remains the only county in the state without a confirmed case. There are 68 cases that haven’t been assigned a county.
There have been 360,889 tests conducted in the state with 6.0% coming back positive. The test numbers reflect only polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which are given to patients while the virus is presumably still active in the body.
The total number of people who have been hospitalized in Washington state with a confirmed case of COVID-19 is 3,501. Twenty-three people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on May 23, the most recent date with complete data. March 23 had the highest number of admittances to date with 88.
This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 8:51 AM.
