Coronavirus updates: Wildland firefighter tests positive; regulations on religious services relaxed
This page includes coronavirus developments around Washington state for Tuesday, August 11.
Updated at 11:10 a.m.
Pierce Transit is currently installing mask dispensers on its buses. If passengers are in need of a mask, they can take one from the dispenser.
Glass artists feel crunch of COVID-19 shutdown. New fundraising campaign aims to help
Updated at 11:10 a.m.
Hilltop Artists, a local nonprofit serving Tacoma’s youth started by glass artist Dale Chihuly, recently announced its participation in a fundraiser known as Give To Glass, which is focused on supporting glass-art organizations in need.On the fundraising website, the national campaign says it is focused on being “a joint fundraising effort designed to keep any one of the studios from closing” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Groups getting support range from Chicago to San Francisco to Tacoma.
Hilltop Artists, like many others, has been closed since March and has had no in-person classes since then. That means no working in the studio on glass-blowing projects. Started in 1994, the organization serves over 650 students a year.
The organization has been engaging with youth through free remote programming and hopes to continue to do so. Programs have included weekly lessons ranging from Glassy Jeopardy to exploring the History of Glass.
Executive director Kimberly Keith told The News Tribune the program is stable for now but always appreciates support.
Wildland firefighter tests positive
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
An asymptomatic firefighter who had been serving at a fire camp tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend. The firefighter from the state Department of Natural Resources was part of the interagency team responding to the Anglin Fire near Tonasket.
Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, leader of Washington state’s wildfire fighting force, reminded Washingtonians to take seriously efforts to protect firefighters by reducing COVID-19 spread and preventing human-caused wildfires.
“I urge each of us to recommit to doing all we can to protect our firefighters. That means practicing social distancing and wearing a mask so that our firefighters do not catch the virus when they are not on the fire lines,” Franz said.
“And that also means abiding by burn bans and taking precautions not to start fires. Each time our firefighters respond to a fire, they are at risk of COVID-19 spreading amongst them. While the exposure to others was limited in the cases so far, it could be far worse next time.”
Precautions to reduce human-caused fires include heeding burn bans, not leaving flammable material like trash or derelict vehicles on the landscape, and not using incendiary devices of any kind while recreating on forestlands.
DOH launches COVID-19 farmworker study
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
The Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Community Engagement Taskforce is an effort to provide timely, accurate, culturally and linguistically appropriate and community-centric information and resources to vulnerable, marginalized and most impacted communities statewide.
In April, the taskforce began participating in the research design for what would become the COVID-19 Farmworker Study.
COFS is a collaborative tri-state research project coordinated by the California Institute for Rural Studies to provide a rapid response analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on farmworker communities throughout the U.S. West coast. This past week, the California research team revealed a preliminary data summary of the 911 surveys of California farmworkers completed on July 24.
Preliminary findings from California show that the majority of farmworkers do wear facemasks. The data also begins to illustrate the transformation of an entire industry due to COVID-19. Click here to view a video on the COFS project.
The Washington COFS data collection team will begin to collect surveys of farmworkers throughout the state this month. If you are a farmworker or can refer farmworkers to participate in the study, please contact CETF team member Tomás Madrigal at Tomas.Madrigal@doh.wa.gov.
Farmworker participants will be surveyed by promotoras (community health workers) from farmworker serving community based organizations that are part of the project’s data team. They are also eligible for a $20 incentive for their time and participation.
Regulations on religious services relaxed by new coronavirus reopening guidance
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
Some of the regulations imposed on religious and faith-based services such as churches have been relaxed in the newest guidance of the state’s reopening plan, according to the governor’s office Monday afternoon, Aug. 10.
Gov. Jay Inslee has been providing guidance for each county to follow as they go through each phase of the state’s Safe Start plan following the coronavirus pandemic.
Services covered by this guidance include worship, religious study classes, religious ceremonies and religious holiday celebrations. Religious weddings and funerals are not covered by this guidance.
While drive-in services or remote sessions are still the recommended option, counties in Phase 1 can hold outdoor services for up to 100 people, according to the guidance. Six feet of social distancing and cloth face masks will be required for those who attend.
In Phase 2, outdoor services can be attended by up to 200 people with the same requirements as Phase 1. Indoor services can be held for up to 25 percent of the room’s capacity or 200 people, whichever is less.
Additional people can attend simultaneous services at the same building only if the building has separate rooms, has an entrance/exit separate from the main entrance, and bathrooms available for all attendees. Masks and distancing will again be required at all times.
In Phase 3, indoor services can expand to 50 percent capacity or 400 people with distancing and masks in place. Outdoor services can accommodate up to 400 people as well with social distancing enforced. Phase 3 will also see the allowance of in-home religious services for up to 10 people, with masks required for all participants.
Trump extends COVID-19 student loan payment relief. Here’s what you need to know
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
If you’re still paying off student loan debt, you may have been eyeing the approaching deadline for the payment relief brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
Now, worries over the expiration date can be put to the side, at least until the end of the year. President Donald Trump has extended the student loan relief — originally scheduled to end at the end of September — until Dec. 31, according to a memorandum released Saturday.
The relief includes the suspension of loan payments and an interest rate of 0%.
The decision stemmed from the reality that millions of Americans with lurking student debt remain unemployed and had to accept lower wages and reduced hours as some states continue to enforce social distancing measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.
But there’s a catch: Your loan must be “held by” the Department of Education to fall under the relief plan, meaning private loans issued by banks, for example, are excluded.
“This relief has helped many students and parents retain financial stability. And many other Americans have continued to routinely pay down their student loan balances, to more quickly eliminate their loans in the long run,” the memorandum read. “It is therefore appropriate to extend this policy until such time that the economy has stabilized, schools have re-opened, and the crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided.”
The initial call for student loan relief came March 20, seven days after Trump declared COVID-19 a national emergency. The administration says the decision provided “immediate relief to tens of millions of loan borrowers” by placing a temporary forbearance on Americans’ accounts and waiving interest payments.
People who would like to continue making payments can do so, according to the memorandum. Total student loan debt in the country is at $1.56 trillion, with 44.7 million borrowers contributing to it, Forbes reported.
This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 8:59 AM.
