Coronavirus updates: State passes 72k cases; new estimated impact on health coverage released
Updated at 11 a.m.
Cultural institutions around the state have been given the option of reopening in Phase 2 or 3, under specific protocols.
The directors of the Tacoma Museum District entities (Washington State Historical Society, Tacoma Art Museum, Museum of Glass, Foss Waterway Seaport, Children’s Museum of Tacoma, and LeMay — America’s Car Museum), who have held weekly remote meetings throughout the pandemic, recently met with Dr. Anthony Chen, Director of the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department to hear his agency’s perspective on local COVID-19 transmission rates and trends.
For now, the museums have chosen to stay “paused” as they continue to monitor local conditions on a daily basis. While the buildings are closed, many staff are working remotely to provide enriching online presentations and activities, as well as providing extensive downloadable learning materials to engage with history, arts and culture from home. Each museum’s website has remote events, apps, curriculum and other online activities.
The museums are also preparing to reopen. The reopening timeline will be different for each museum based on the layout of our individual buildings, staffing configurations, financial models and exhibition styles.
Due to the highly interactive nature of the playscapes at Children’s Museum of Tacoma, it will not reopen until next year. Museums with fewer touchable exhibitions or activities will reopen sooner. Each museum will post updates on their website and their social media platforms to alert the public to individual opening timelines.
State reports 456 new cases Wednesday
Updated at 8:15 a.m.
The Washington State Department of Health on Wednesday reported 456 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and four deaths.
Pierce County reported 44 cases Wednesday and one new death. Pierce County had a total of 145 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Wednesday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 72,161 cases and 1,880 deaths, up from 71,705 cases and 1,876 deaths Tuesday.
Thirty-eight people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Aug. 8, the most recent date with complete data. Late March had two days with 88 people admitted, the highest numbers to date during the pandemic.
On Aug. 15, the most recent date with complete data, 8,831 specimens were collected statewide, with 3.9% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 4.1%. More than 1.3 million tests have been conducted in Washington.
The test numbers reflect only polymerase chain reaction tests, which are administered while the virus is presumably still active in the body.
King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 18,976 cases and 719 deaths. Yakima County is second, with 10,853 cases and 237 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 6,621.
All counties in Washington have cases. Garfield and Wahkiakum have case counts of fewer than 10.
On Wednesday, Washington had a 952-per-100,000-people case rate. The national rate is 1,755, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Louisiana has the highest rate in the United States at 3,093. Vermont is lowest at 251.
There had been nearly 5.8 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 179,344 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Wednesday evening, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 821,000 people have died from the disease worldwide.
Estimated impact of COVID-19 on Washington State’s health coverage
Updated at 8:15 a.m.
The Office of Financial Management Health Care Research Center updated its estimates for COVID-19’s impact on Washington state’s health coverage.
This update incorporated unemployment, Medicaid and the Exchange data through the week ending on August 15.
The report is located here.
SW Washington school district furloughs 475 support staff
Updated at 8:15 a.m.
A southwest Washington school district is furloughing nearly 500 employees for the new school year, which begins online next week.
KOIN-TV reports Evergreen Public Schools in Vancouver, Washington informed the 475 workers in the Public School Employees union that they may be called back later in September if and when students start returning to the school buildings. There are 1115 employees in the union.
The furloughed employees, who will be able to retain their benefits while furloughed, previously worked directly with students on campus as support staff but they won’t be needed as the district goes to remote learning because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Evergreen Public Schools Communications Director Gail Spolar said the district’s hiring freeze from last spring helped save 200 positions. Without that move, the district would have had to furlough many more now.
The district is one of eight Clark County school systems to go online, including Battle Ground, Camas, Hockinson, La Center, Ridgefield, Vancouver and Washougal.
Nation’s poorest areas got billions less in PPP cash than richest, report finds
Updated at 8:15 a.m.
The amount of money each congressional district received in the form of the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans appears to have varied widely depending on the area’s wealth, a new report found.
The difference in dollar amount for the 10 poorest congressional districts versus the 10 richest was over $13 billion, according to the report from Accountable US. The 10 poorest districts received 56,000 fewer loans compared to the wealthiest, Accountable US found.
Black Americans were disproportionately impacted due to the demographic makeup of the poorest congressional districts, according to the report.
“The neediest districts had an average Black population of 41.8% while the wealthiest districts averaged 6.3% Black,” the report said.
The 10 poorest congressional districts are in New York, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida, North Carolina, Arizona and Louisiana, according to the report. The 10 richest districts are California, Virginia, New York and New Jersey.
Most Black-owned small businesses are in service industries heavily impacted by the coronavirus pandemic such as food and retail, Reuters reported. Those companies “are expected to shutter at twice the rate of small businesses overall,” according to Reuters.
Accountable US’s report attributes the loan disparity to the government’s prioritization of businesses with more “resources and connections,” the report said. The watchdog group defines businesses with more resources as publicly-traded companies, according to Accountable US’s previous report from Aug. 19.
“As these companies cashed in, thousands of actual small businesses — particularly Black-owned and other minority-owned enterprises — were shut out of the program altogether,” the Aug. 19 report said. “And without new data from the SBA [Small Business Administration] since July 6, it’s unclear how many more large companies might’ve run away with the program’s limited pool of taxpayer dollars.”
Seattle’s MoPOP lays off 32 as museums prepare to reopen
Updated at 8:15 a.m.
Washington state museums received some encouraging news last week, as Gov. Jay Inslee cleared a path for many to reopen amid the corovirus pandemic.
But, The Seattle Times reports Seattle pop culture museum MoPOP has laid off 32 “contingent and temporary” employees.
A spokesperson said those employees add staffing when the museum is at capacity in normal operations and, unfortunately, they won’t be at ‘normal’ for some time. All of the employees affected were part time.
This week several Seattle museums announced reopening dates in accordance with Inslee’s updated Safe Start reopening plan. Museums located in counties in phase two of the governor’s plan, such as King, may now reopen at 25% capacity while adhering to staggered entry times and mandatory face coverings for visitors over 2 years old. MoPOP is expected to announce its reopening plans soon.
This story was originally published August 27, 2020 at 8:17 AM.
