Coronavirus updates: Tacoma schools backtrack on reopening; Pac-12 football announces return
The Washington state Department of Health on Thursday reported 536 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and one less death from the previous day.
The state did not give any explanation for the drop in deaths other than saying the information was up-to-date as of Thursday. The state has periodically adjusted numbers during the pandemic after discovering errors in data reporting.
Pierce County reported 41 cases and one new death Thursday. Pierce County has a total of 170 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Thursday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 84,238 cases and 2,080 deaths, up from 83,702 cases and down from 2,081 deaths Wednesday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.
Thirty-four people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Sep. 5, the most recent date with complete data. Late March had two days with 88 people admitted, the highest numbers to date during the pandemic.
Tacoma rescinds in-person school plans over mask problems. Start date now unclear
A day after releasing COVID-19 plans, Tacoma Public Schools announced on Thursday students will not return to the classroom next Monday.
The 30,000-student school district cited concerns over personal protective masks for school employees.
“We have discovered during safety testing of our N95 masks that many are not passing the safety standards,” district spokesman Dan Voelpel said.
The state Labor and Industries Department recommends higher grade masks than what the district has.
Currently, the district has 3,400 N95 masks in its warehouse. The district tested the effectiveness of the masks, and about half do not meet the states’ performance standards, Voelpel said.
“We ordered these masks as a precautionary step because we didn’t think we would be required to have a large number of employees to wear them,” Voelpel said.
Many staff, like nurses, health clerks, special education teachers, paraeducators, and custodians will be fitted with N95 masks, Voelpel said.
The state-required fitting process must include a confidential health review, a training session and individual mask fitting by a licensed professional.
“Tacoma Public Schools already has contracted with a training and fitting vendor and has begun the process,” he said.
The district thought cloth masks were acceptable for teachers and other staff, but recent L&I guidance requires those employees to wear disposable surgical masks,Voelpel said. There are 30,000 surgical masks in the warehouse, and the district has ordered 100,000 more.
Voelpel said the district wishes health and safety guidelines from the state would stop changing as they try to implement them.
“We understand that this is extremely difficult for our families, especially those hoping to send their students to school next week,” he said. “It has been extremely frustrating to try and follow changing guidance on health and safety issues that we have to put in place.”
Pac-12 sets start dates for football, basketball seasons
There will be Pac-12 sports this fall after all.
After deciding in August to postpone all competitions until the end of 2020, the conference reversed course on Thursday. Thanks to a new partnership that will provide point-of-care testing, the Pac-12 will now open the 2020 football season on Nov. 6.
Each team will play seven games against its divisional opponents along with two cross-divisional opponents. The championship game will take place on Friday, Dec. 18. Every team not appearing in the title game will also play that day. The complete football schedule will be released at a later date.
Schools can begin practice immediately if they have state and local approval. UW’s players returned to campus last weekend after a three-week break. After completing a seven-day quarantine. UW head football coach Jimmy Lake said the Huskies will resume practices in T-shirts and shorts on Tuesday.
Men’s and women’s basketball will open on Nov. 25, which lines up with the NCAA’s official start date for those sports. Further details regarding the basketball schedule will be released at a future date.
Tacoma convention center coming back to life with new COVID-19 protocols
The Greater Tacoma Convention Center got some good news this week in terms of reopening, but don’t expect large extravaganzas there just yet.
Under new guidance from the governor’s office received Sept. 22, business meetings of up to 200 people or 30 percent capacity per room are now allowed as part of the state’s Safe Start reopening plan.
For convention centers and large hotels in the state, that means business meetings, testing and educational events are now allowed.
Think accreditation exams, not trade shows.
The first business event organized under the guidance is to take place Oct. 21-23 in the ballrooms. The event is certification testing for engineers and land surveyors, with capacity for 57 attendees split into three groups of 19.
Young adults have surpassed older Americans for most COVID-19 infections, study says
Coronavirus cases were highest among older Americans at the start of the pandemic, but that changed this summer as health officials saw higher incidences of the virus among young adults.
A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that adults aged 20-29 accounted for more than 20% of total COVID-19 cases between June and August, outpacing all other age groups in the U.S. The study, published in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on Wednesday, also suggests 20-somethings are a major driver of community spread of the virus.
“Given the role of asymptomatic and presymptomatic transmission, strict adherence to community mitigation strategies and personal preventive behaviors by younger adults is needed to help reduce the risk for infection and subsequent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to persons at higher risk for severe illness,” study authors wrote.
Their review of the changing age distribution of COVID-19 found that overall, the median age of those infected with the virus has skewed younger in recent months.
In May, the median age for coronavirus cases was 46 and slid to 37 by July, the report shows. That number rose slightly to 38 in August.
The rate of new cases among U.S. adults in their 20s was particularly staggering. The monthly case count for those aged 20-29 saw a more than two-fold increase between May and July, data show. Folks in their 30s initially had the highest share of confirmed coronavirus cases in May (16.9%) but were quickly eclipsed by 20-somethings by June (20.2%).
This trend continued through the summer with people in their 20s accounting for 189,366 (or 21%) of total confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S., according to the CDC report.
Josephine Peterson, Craig Sailor, Lauren Kirschman and Debbie Cockrell contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 9:15 AM.
