Coronavirus updates: New program provides more access to public roadways
This page includes coronavirus developments around Washington state for Wednesday, July 8.
Updated at 6:30 p.m.
The Washington State Department of Health on Wednesday reported 521 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 10 deaths.
Pierce County reported 48 new cases and one new death Wednesday. Pierce County had a total of 92 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Wednesday.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 37,941 cases and 1,394 deaths, up from 37,420 cases and 1,384 deaths on Tuesday.
Forty-two people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on June 30, the most recent date with complete data. It’s the highest number since 43 people were admitted on April 29. March 23 saw 89 admittances, the highest number to date during the pandemic.
Washington state has conducted 645,072 coronavirus tests, with 5.9 percent 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.
King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 11,284 cases and 628 deaths. Snohomish County has the second highest number of deaths at 178. Yakima County has the second highest number of cases at 7,753 and the third highest number of deaths at 174.
Washington’s least populous county, Garfield, remains the only one without a case. Five other counties are reporting fewer than 10 cases each.
There have been more than 3 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 132,195 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 547,000 people have died from the disease worldwide.
Pierce County reports 48 new cases
Updated 2:45 p.m.
Pierce County reported 48 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday and one new death.
There have now been 2,940 cases and 92 deaths recorded since the county’s first case was reported March 6, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
The new death reported Wednesday involved a University Place man in his 70s with underlying health conditions.
The health department noted in a news release that lower case counts Tuesday and Wednesday are likely the result of several labs being closed over the July Fourth weekend.
“Labs are catching up in processing test results, so we may see an increase in case counts in the days ahead,” it warned.
Daily totals can change as the county receives new information about cases, finds duplicate data or is assigned cases originally attributed to other counties.
The county has reported 585 cases in the past 14 days, according to the health department. The 14-day case rate per 100,000 population is 64.9. The county has averaged 41.9 cases per day over the past 14 days.
The county reported an estimated 855 still-active cases.
Testing is available at various sites in the county. For more information on local testing sites, go to www.tpchd.org/covidtest.
Wednesday’s geographical case totals are listed below with previous day’s totals in parentheses:
▪ Bonney Lake: 61 (60)
▪ Central Pierce County: 193 (188)
▪ East Pierce County: 72 (no change)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 126 (124)
▪ Frederickson: 95 (93)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 80 (77)
▪ Graham: 80 (no change)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 16 (no change)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 85 (83)
▪ Lakewood: 304 (300)
▪ Parkland: 167 (165)
▪ Puyallup: 202 (200)
▪ South Hill: 147 (146)
▪ South Pierce County: 56 (no change)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 37 (no change)
▪ Spanaway: 100 (96)
▪ Tacoma: 953 (942)
▪ University Place: 136 (127)
▪ Unknown: 29 (31)
City of Tacoma’s Rental Assistance Program accepting applications
Updated at 2:40 p.m.
A second round of applications for the City of Tacoma’s Rental Assistance Program will be accepted from July 8-July 15.
People who meet the program qualifications can submit an application to LASA, which is the organization partnering with the City to administer the program. People who need translation services or have trouble accessing the online link, can call (253) 582-5320 Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to noon for assistance.
The program provides a one-time payment of up to $1,000 directly to landlords of selected individuals or families who live in the city limits of Tacoma and have experienced loss of employment or reduction in wages due to COVID-19 resulting in an income level at or below 50% Area Median Income for Pierce County.
To apply for the City’s rental assistance program, people can submit an application online at cityoftacoma.org/covidrent. The application will be accepted through July 15 and will be included in an award lottery. In keeping with the City’s Welcoming Cities Policy, we will not be tracking or providing information to Immigration and Customs Enforcement about immigration or citizenship status.
Some funds have been set aside for direct referrals by community agencies that are helping to address inequities faced by people of color in our community. If you are a service provider that would like to make a direct referral, please contact LASA at communityengagement@lasawa.org.
More information about the City’s response to COVID-19 is available at cityoftacoma.org/coronavirus.
American Red Cross searching for volunteers
Updated at 12:15 p.m.
Experts are preparing for a busy wildfire season this summer and the American Red Cross needs volunteers to help in our community.
“The coronavirus pandemic will make it challenging to deploy trained disaster volunteers from other parts of the country should an emergency occur. In light of this, the Red Cross is asking you to be ready to help your community,” said Alex Dieffenbach, Northwest Region CEO. “Train now to be a Red Cross volunteer and answer the call to help if the need arises here in our region.”
There is a special need for volunteers to support sheltering efforts. Because of COVID-19, the Red Cross is placing those in need of a safe place to stay in emergency hotel lodging when possible. If hotel stays aren’t possible, then the Red Cross will open traditional shelters. To help keep people safe, the Red Cross has put in place additional precautions and developed special training for our workforce.
Volunteers are needed to help staff shelter reception, registration, feeding, dormitory, information collection and other vital tasks. Both associate and supervisory level opportunities are available.
If you are an RN, LPN, LVN, APRN, NP, EMT, paramedic, MD/DO or PA with an active, current and unencumbered license, the Red Cross needs your support. Volunteers are needed in shelters to help assess people’s health. Daily observation and health screening for COVID-19-like illness among shelter residents may also be required. RNs supervise all clinical tasks.
Roles are also available for Certified Nursing Assistants, Certified Home Health Aides, student nurses and medical students. Volunteers who can provide care as delegated by a licensed nurse are needed. This could include assisting with activities of daily living, personal assistance services, providing health education and helping to replace medications, durable medical equipment or consumable medical supplies.
The Red Cross is also looking for established partner organizations to support the pet sheltering effort.
If you are interested in helping, please visit redcross.org/volunteertoday or for more information contact the Red Cross directly a JoinUsNW@redcross.org.
Insurance carriers apply to offer public option plans
Updated at 9 a.m.
Gov. Jay Inslee announced five insurance carriers have applied to offer public option plans in a majority of counties across the state. The first year of Cascade Care, the public option program, begins later this year with plans to start coverage on Jan. 1, 2021.
Cascade Care has remained a priority for the governor, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic has dominated the health care system.
The Washington State Health Care Authority issued a competitive bid process for carriers to participate in the program during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Carriers have to meet certain program requirements to be able to participate, which were laid out in the Cascade Care legislation that was passed in 2019.
The Cascade Care public option is offered by private insurance companies that offer standard benefits and cost-sharing at each metal level — gold, silver and bronze. The program also caps the amount health insurance carriers can pay providers for services.
“One of the key goals of this bill was to ensure predictable and reduced deductibles and co-pays for consumers,” said Sen. David Frockt, Senate sponsor of the legislation. “The standardized plans accomplish this important goal while also bringing new entrants into our individual market.
“I believe this effort has also put downward pressure on premiums for some non-Cascade Care plans that will now be competing against these plans — another goal of the legislation. As we deal with pandemic related loss of employer sponsored coverage, we must do everything we can to build on the successful implementation of the Affordable Care Act here in Washington state in order to bring health security to our people. ”
The public option plans and rates still need to be approved by the Health Care Authority, Office of the Insurance Commissioner, and the Health Benefit Exchange Board. Final approval of plans will occur in September and open enrollment begins November 1, 2020.
Commerce, Child Care Aware team up to supply child care centers
Updated at 9 a.m.
As cleaning products and other staples for fighting the COVID-19 infection disappeared from store shelves in mid-March, Child Care Aware of Washington recognized a pending supply crisis for child care providers.
CCAWA reached out to suppliers to address immediate needs for items such as toilet paper, paper towels, hand soap and bleach. While they found willing vendors to fill their orders, few could meet the need to deliver across the state.
The Washington Department of Commerce then provided a $120,000 emergency grant to help fund CCAWA’s plan for a data-driven approach to assessing and meeting the needs of some of the state’s 5,432 licensed child care centers and family child care centers child care providers through a bulk purchasing plan.
“Child care providers are on the front lines in this pandemic, and we are honored to support Child Care Aware of Washington’s innovative work to keep children and families safe,” said Commerce Director Lisa Brown. “Getting much-needed supplies to those in need strengthens communities, especially in rural and remote areas, as we continue to stop the spread of COVID-19 while reopening our economy.”
An initial survey revealed that more than half of open centers and 67% of open family child care programs were concerned about access to supplies.
With help from the Commerce grant, CCAWA will soon have delivered over $260,000 worth of supplies through nine regional distribution centers strategically located throughout the state to minimize travel, especially in remote rural areas.
CCWA will continue to monitor overall and regional supply concerns weekly and target purchases to meet specific identified needs. Supplies are provided only to licensed child care centers and family child care centers that are open.
Temporary lane reallocations provide opportunity for physical distancing and economic recovery
Updated at 9 a.m.
The Washington state departments of Health, Commerce and Transportation have joined together to provide more access to public roadways in support of active, healthy communities and business recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Safe, Healthy and Active Streets Program allows temporary lane reallocations on some state roadways to allow walkers and cyclists more space to maintain physical distance, and to provide greater access to businesses along “main street” highways.
This temporary change to some traffic lanes could let towns increase space for people walking or biking, or create outdoor seating for restaurants and sales areas for retailers, while maintaining physical distance to help reduce exposure to the virus.
The Washington State Department of Transportation will work with requesting cities and counties to evaluate roadway segments that meet criteria for lane reallocation that is safe for all users.
Eligible state highway locations will be on roadways with 35 mph speed limits or lower and within population centers with demonstrated lack of space for physical distancing for walking, bicycling or other forms of active transportation. The duration of temporary lane reallocations will be for up to 90 days, but could vary depending on the agreement with each city.
WSDOT asks interested local jurisdictions to ensure that they’ve communicated with the people and businesses affected by the changes and that they report on how the roadway changes work. Towns could use this reallocation to test and learn from changes they might want to consider implementing in the future.
Inslee discusses unmet unemployment claims, COVID-19 surge
Updated at 9 a.m.
Gov. Jay Inslee talked about unemployment claims and the continued need for precautions to control the increase in COVID-19 across the state, among other topics at a press conference Tuesday.
Inslee said the frustration of people who have not been able to have their claims fully processed is “real and sincere and deep, and is something I share.”
There were 81,000 people in the queue waiting for processing of their claims June 15, and that was down to 37,000 as of Monday, Inslee said.
About 866,000 people have received $6.7 billion in unemployment benefits since March 8, and the Employment Security Department team is “working as hard as humanly possible” to process the claims as quickly as possible, the governor said.
He also said the department has resolved identification issues for more than 200,000 claims “as part of our efforts to combat fraud” with the help from the National Guard.
Inslee also noted the two-week pause he announced last week on allowing counties to advance in phases of the state’s Safe Start plan due to increased coronavirus activity.
“If these trends continue, we would have to be prepared to go back to where we were in March,” he said.
Face coverings, which are mandatory in public places with some exceptions, are key, he said. He said social distancing, hand washing, limiting contacts with others, and staying relatively close to home are also important.
“I want to reopen our economy,” Inslee said. “I want to reopen our businesses. I want people to be able to go back to work.”
He urged people to cooperate with contact tracers. “If you are contacted by one of the contract tracers, please give them a hand,” he said.
The governor said the percentage of positive tests in the state was about 3.8 percent in mid June, 5 percent in the last week of June, and higher in the past week.
The World Health Organization says a country shouldn’t lift restrictions if the rate of positivity is higher than that, he noted.
He also said he’s concerned about a surge in young people getting infected.
“Young people can die,” he said. “... We really need them to step up to the plate” and take precautions such as social distancing.
The state’s chief health officer, Dr. Kathy Lofy, joined Inslee on the call.
She said a part of the “dramatic increase in the number of cases” is due to an increase in the number of tests being done, but she noted the data signals something else. Lofy said there’s also a rise in the percentage of positive tests, and in the number of people admitted to hospitals each week.
“People are coming into contact more frequently than we all did back in March,” she said.
Pierce County Council authorizes release of remaining CARES Act funding
Updated at 9 a.m.
The Pierce County Council released the remaining federal CARES Act funding it received to be available for distribution to assist with the response to the COVID-19 public health crisis.
With this authorization, the final 40 percent of the nearly $158 million will be appropriated into four previously established categories:
▪ Public Health Emergency Response
▪ Economic Stabilization and Recovery Programs
▪ Community Response and Resilience
▪ Essential Government Services
Just more than $23 million remains in a contingency reserve account. The council must review proposed expenditures and pass a resolution to release this money before it can be allocated.
Paid parking returns to Seattle following break due to virus
Updated at 9 a.m.
Seattle will reinstitute paid parking on city streets as businesses continue to reopen during the COVID-19 outbreak.
KOMO reports that starting July 13, all metered street parking areas will begin at the base 50 cents/hour rate, which is the minimum rate allowed by city law.
In addition, parking enforcement will return to free areas that are limited by time. Authorities say that for the first two weeks of the return to paid parking the focus will be on voluntary compliance.
Officials say they will keep the rates at 50 cents an hour for at least a month to monitor parking activity and neighborhood occupancy.
This story was originally published July 8, 2020 at 9:03 AM.
