Coronavirus updates: Washington mask requirement begins; state cases pass 30K
This page includes coronavirus developments around Washington state for Friday, June 26.
PIERCE COUNTY REPORTS 23 NEW CASES, 2 DEATHS
Updated 2:15 p.m.
Pierce County reported 23 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths Thursday.
Both of the reported deaths involved underlying health conditions.
The county’s totals are now at 2,411 cases and 87 deaths since the first confirmed case was reported in March.
There have been and average of 23 new cases per 100,000 residents during the past 14 days, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department website says. Pierce County has had 322 new cases during that period.
As of Friday, the county reported an estimated 493 active cases.
Daily case totals can change as the county receives new information about cases, finds duplicate data or is assigned cases originally attributed to other counties.
Friday’s geographical case totals are listed below with Thursday’s totals in parenthesis:
▪ Bonney Lake: 51 (no change)
▪ Central Pierce County: 161 (no change)
▪ East Pierce County: 62 (no change)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 108 (107)
▪ Frederickson: 80 (79)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 65 (no change)
▪ Graham: 74 (75)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 11 (10)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 66 (65)
▪ Lakewood: 249 (244)
▪ Parkland: 138 (no change)
▪ Puyallup: 167 (no change)
▪ South Hill: 124 (121)
▪ South Pierce County: 47 (no change)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 28 (27)
▪ Spanaway: 82 (80)
▪ Tacoma: 778 (774)
▪ University Place: 100 (no change)
▪ Unknown: 20 (17)
Daily reports include cases received by 11:59 p.m. the previous day.
FREE TESTING AVAILABLE AT TACOMA DOME NEXT WEEK
Updated 10 a.m.
The Tacoma Dome will offer free COVID-19 testing Monday and Tuesday, according to a tweet from the City of Tacoma.
Testing at the drive-thru site will be open to anyone in the Tacoma and Pierce County areas and will run from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on both days.
Registration for testing is required, and appointments can be scheduled online or by calling 1-888-852-2567.
FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATIONS CANCELED DUE TO LARGE GATHERING RESTRICTIONS
Updated 10 a.m.
Many annual Fourth of July celebrations and fireworks shows around the Puget Sound region have been postponed or canceled as restrictions on large gatherings remain in place in the state amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The City of Tacoma announced in May it would postpone its annual festivities and fireworks show on Ruston Way, which was set to have a new name and footprint this year. The event’s website says it will still attempt to bring “this free-to-attend community event to the Tacoma area later this year.”
Other annual celebrations in Seattle, Bellevue, Puyallup, Tumwater and at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, among others, have also been canceled.
Fireworks can still be purchased for private use in some areas. The Washington State Fire Marshal’s office said in a release individual sales will begin at noon Sunday and end at 9 p.m. on July 5. There are 633 licensed fireworks sellers in the state this year, down from 698 in 2019.
Here is a full rundown of fireworks rules by jurisdiction in Pierce County.
TACOMA PUBLIC SCHOOLS ROLLS OUT OPTIONS FOR FALL
Updated 9:30 a.m.
Tacoma Public Schools rolled out its plans for returning to school this fall at a school board meeting Thursday.
“Our intent with these options is to offer these as options for families,” Deputy Superintendent Josh Garcia said at the meeting. “We are working toward facilitating all of these options, with the intent to say, ‘Families, what works best for you in your schedule?’ ”
The options, broken down by elementary, middle and high school levels, include both full online and hybrid options, in which students attend classes in-person for part of each school week, and participate remotely for the rest of it.
None of the options include in-person learning on a full-time basis.
“It is very unlikely if not impossible to open schools up in the Fall of 2020 in the traditional manner,” the district’s plan says.
State Superintendent Chris Reykdal said earlier this month he expected students to return to in-person learning with social distancing guidelines in place as the state continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic.
He clarified this guidance in a video Saturday, saying it was unlikely or “almost impossible” that “every single student” would return for in-person learning.
Tacoma Public Schools used survey feedback from families to help develop its options.
All staff, students and visitors will be required to wear masks, and the district must have a 6-foot social distancing plan for every learning space. That does not include hallways or transportation.
The options for a return to school remain fluid, Garcia reminded the board and public during the meeting, and depend on where the county is at in Gov. Jay Inslee’s phased reopening plan this fall.
WASHINGTON MASK CHALLENGE CONTINUES AS STATEWIDE REQUIREMENT BEGINS
Updated 9 a.m.
The Washington Mask Challenge, which was launched by Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib’s office in April, continues on as Gov. Jay Inslee’s statewide order for residents to wear masks in public spaces begins Friday.
The initiative was set up soon after the COVID-19 pandemic swept the state to encourage the production, use and donation of homemade cloth masks.
“There are many organizations in our state that need cloth masks right now,” the initiative’s website says. “These include nursing homes, homelessness service organizations, food banks, grocery stores, restaurants, and more. Although these organizations are working in close contact with potentially vulnerable populations every day, they are not requesting N95 or other manufactured masks, which must be prioritized for frontline healthcare providers working with COVID-19 patients.
“Members of the general public should also be wearing some kind of cloth covering over the nose and mouth whenever going out to perform essential activities, per Center for Disease Control and State Department of Health guidelines.”
Habib offered an update to the challenge Tuesday via Twitter, stating his office, in partnership with Michaels Stores, will send free fabric to sewing teams who commit to making at least 100 masks.
Here are the guidelines for how to participate in the challenge:
Follow the instructions for sewing a mask provided on the website, and make a minimum of 10 masks for donation.
Fill out the Google Form provided on the website so donations can be tracked. The lieutenant governor’s office will respond with instructions via email about where to send the masks.
Further questions can be directed via email to the lieutenant governor’s office.
Organizations in need can also request masks on the website.
STATE HAS DISTRIBUTED NEARLY 2.8 MILLION MASKS TO LOW-INCOME FAMILIES
Updated 8:30 a.m.
The Washington State Emergency Management Division, in partnership with the state Department of Enterprise Services, has distributed nearly 2.8 million of the 3.6 million cloth face masks purchased for residents, according to a Friday release.
“As counties begin to reopen, wearing a face covering can help save lives and prevent the spread of COVID-19,” the release says. “But not everyone can easily buy or make them. State officials launched a program earlier this month to ensure access to free, reusable cloth face coverings for all low-income Washingtonians.”
The plan was to distribute two masks to every Washington resident below 200% of the federal poverty level, which is $52,400 for a family of four.
In the first two weeks of the program, more than half of the masks have been distributed, with the state working on filling remaining orders from local emergency management offices, the release says.
“The state delivers the face coverings to local emergency management offices who then work with various community organizations and service providers to deliver them to individuals,” the release says.
Those interested in picking up masks should contact their county’s local office.
The release also includes a county-by-county breakdown of the estimated number of masks each has already received or will receive.
King County is set to receive the most (827,000) and Garfield County the least (1,315), apart from San Juan County, which opted out of the program.
Pierce County will receive 391,650 masks and Thurston County 128,700.
STATEWIDE MASK REQUIREMENT BEGINS FRIDAY
Updated 8 a.m.
Gov. Jay Inslee announced during a virtual press conference Tuesday that facial coverings would soon be mandatory in public spaces statewide.
That requirement begins Friday.
“Until a vaccine or a cure is developed, this really is going to be our best defense,” Inslee said Tuesday.
There has been an uptick in COVID-19 cases as counties have moved beyond Phase 1 of the state’s reopening plan — the state passed 30,000 confirmed cases Thursday — and Inslee said science increasingly supports the use of masks to protect the wearer and others from spreading the virus.
The public health order from state Secretary of Health John Wiesman makes masks mandatory in indoor or outdoor public spaces, with some exceptions.
A willful violation of the order is a misdemeanor, Inslee said.
Those exempt from the requirement include people who are deaf or hard of hearing, while they’re communicating, and children younger than 2 years old. Children ages 3-5 are strongly encouraged to wear masks, but it is not required.
There are appropriate times to remove masks in public, Inslee’s office said, including sitting at a restaurant a safe distance from others, during solo recreation or recreation with other members of the same household, as long as social distance can be maintained.
Even with the mask requirement, other precautions such as remaining 6 feet away from others in public spaces, washing hands frequently, staying home when sick, and getting tested when showing symptoms, are still important.
Inslee said Tuesday he anticipates broad compliance with the mask order.
“We don’t want to have enforcement of this,” he said. “Ideally there won’t be any criminal or civil sanctions for individuals.”
Any style of face covering is acceptable, he said, as long as it covers the nose and moth.
Wiesman also noted masks should fit snugly, shouldn’t have holes or tears, and reusable masks should be washed after each use.
STATE REPORTS 498 NEW CASES, 7 DEATHS
Updated 8 a.m.
The Washington State Department of Health reported 498 new COVID-19 cases and seven deaths Thursday.
Statewide totals have reached 30,367 cases and 1,300 deaths, up from 29,869 cases and 1,293 deaths Wednesday.
King County has 9,453 cases and 604 deaths, while Yakima County has 6,490 cases and 146 deaths and Snohomish County has 3,346 cases and 165 deaths.
Pierce County reported 35 new cases and one death Thursday, bringing its totals to 2,390 cases and 85 deaths.
Benton (1,524), Franklin (1,406) and Spokane (1,069) counties are all now reporting more than 1,000 cases.
Twenty of the state’s 39 counties have reported more than 100 cases, and 11 counties have reported at least 10 virus-related deaths.
Garfield, the state’s least populous county, remains the only county without a reported case. Five other counties are reporting fewer than 10 cases each.
There are 43 cases that have not been assigned to a county.
There were 26 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 admitted to state hospitals on June 17, the most recent date with complete data. The total number of people who have been hospitalized in the state stood at 4,106 on Thursday.
There have been 505,795 tests conducted in the state with 6% 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.
This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 8:06 AM.
