Coronavirus updates: State reaches 91,208 cases; Inslee loosens some restrictions
Updated at 4:30 p.m.
The Washington state Department of Health reported Wednesday 545 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 12 deaths.
Pierce County reported 68 cases Wednesday and one new death. Pierce County has a total of 178 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 91,208 cases and 2,177 deaths, up from 90,663 cases and 2,165 deaths Tuesday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.
Thirty-three people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Sept. 18, the most recent date with complete data. Average daily hospitalizations peaked in early April at 78.
On Sept. 26, the most recent date with complete data, 9,314 specimens were collected statewide, with 3.2% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 3.5%. More than 1.9 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 23,351 cases and 780 deaths. Yakima County is second, with 11,521 cases and 263 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 8,437.
All counties in Washington have cases. Ten counties have case counts of fewer than 100.
On Wednesday, Washington had a 1,203-per-100,000-people case rate. The national rate is 2,259, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Louisiana has the highest rate in the United States at 3,658. Vermont is lowest at 291.
There had been more than 7.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 211,652 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Wednesday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The United States has the highest number of reported cases and deaths of any nation. More than 1 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 35 million.
Steilacoom Historical School District participates inK-12 Internet Access Program
Updated at 4:30 p.m.
Steilacoom Historical School District is participating in the K-12 Internet Access Program which connects eligible students to internet access at home, with no cost to the student or their family. Through the program, students whose families are low-income and without internet access can be connected to free internet service through the end of the 2020-21 school year.
This spring, through the federal CARES Act, Congress allocated funds to local school districts and state education agencies to provide support in covering emergency COVID-19 costs. The Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction will use this funding to cover the costs of internet connectivity for eligible students.
To be eligible for the program, students and their families must not have had internet connectivity in the home prior to August 2020, and they must be able to show eligibility for free or reduced-price meals. To take part in the K-12 Internet Access Program, district students and families need to sign up with Presidio, the district’s participating internet service provider using the offer code provided by Steilacoom Historical School District.
Washington state reports 387 new cases Tuesday
Updated at 9:10 a.m.
The Washington state Department of Health reported Tuesday 387 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and seven deaths.
Pierce County reported 47 cases Tuesday and no new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 177 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Tuesday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 90,663 cases and 2,165 deaths, up from 90,276 cases and 2,158 deaths Monday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.
Thirty-five people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Sept. 18, the most recent date with complete data. Average daily hospitalizations peaked in early April at 78.
On Sept. 25, the most recent date with complete data, 13,368 specimens were collected statewide, with 3.7% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 3.5%. More than 1.9 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 23,218 cases and 775 deaths. Yakima County is second, with 11,506 cases and 263 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 8,368.
All counties in Washington have cases. Ten counties have case counts of fewer than 100.
On Tuesday, Washington had a 1,198-per-100,000-people case rate. The national rate is 2,247, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Louisiana has the highest rate in the United States at 3,647. Vermont is lowest at 290.
There had been more than 7.4 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 210,716 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The United States has the highest number of reported cases and deaths of any nation. More than 1 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 35 million.
Washington updates rules for return of high school sports. When will there be games?
Updated at 9:10 a.m.
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association updated its return-to-play guidelines after Gov. Inslee’s office issued new guidance for returning to education-based sports and activities on Tuesday. Inslee said during a press conference Tuesday that more activity would be allowed under different phases of the state’s Safe Start plan.
The new guidance from the Governor’s office will tie high school sports to COVID-19 benchmarks in individual counties — specifically, cases per 100,000 residents in each county, as well as the percentage of positive tests. The previous return-to-play guidelines were tied to phasing in the Governor’s Safe Start Plan.
The Governor’s office has informed the WIAA that these guidelines must be followed and neither schools nor community sports programs have the authority to implement more lenient policies, per the WIAA’s release.
For “high-risk” sports such as football and basketball to be allowed to have games, counties will need to have a 14-day case rate under 25 per 100,000 and less than five percent positivity rate. As of Tuesday, Pierce County has a 14-day case rate of 78.9 per 100,000, which puts the county in a high-risk state for allowing participation.
If the county reaches a moderate state (cases between 25 and 75 per 100k), games for low and moderate-risk sports, such as baseball, tennis, cross country, golf, soccer and volleyball would be allowed to return, without tournaments and with limited spectators in attendance.
Without at least some form of in-person learning with high schools — whether it’s full-time, in-person instruction or at least a hybrid learning model — an imminent return to high school athletics is unlikely. Pierce County schools have stumbled with plans to return to in-person learning, as rising COVID-19 cases have caused local districts to stay in remote learning for the time being.
The updated guidance is good news for most sports, which will be allowed to return to action in some form, provided schools begin to return to in-person instruction in some capacity. But it’s still worrying news in the state’s most populous counties for the state’s biggest sports, football and basketball, which don’t appear close to a return with coronavirus cases continuing to trend in the wrong direction.
The full release and updated return-to-play guidelines can be found on the WIAA’s website.
Boeing says pandemic will cut demand for planes for a decade
Updated at 9:10 a.m.
Boeing is lowering its expectations around demand for new planes over the next decade as the coronavirus pandemic continues to undercut air travel.
The company on Tuesday predicted that the world will need 18,350 new commercial airplanes in the next decade, a drop of 11% from its 2019 forecast. The value of that market will slide by about $200 billion from last year’s forecast, to $2.9 trillion.
Boeing Co. largely stuck to its rosy forecast for long-term demand, predicting that increasing air travel in Asia will help create a market for more than 43,000 planes over the next 20 years, down about 1,000 from its 2019 outlook. The long-term optimism is based on history, including aviation’s eventual recovery after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and other crises, said the company’s vice president of commercial marketing, Darren Hulst.
Chicago-based Boeing, which along with Europe’s Airbus dominates the aircraft-building industry, has seen orders and deliveries of new planes crumble this year. Boeing was already under pressure from the grounding last year of its best-selling plane, the 737 Max, after two deadly crashes.
The company has been squeezed even more during the pandemic, as airlines find themselves with more planes than they need. Boeing has cut thousands of jobs this year.
The company’s outlook assumes that it will take about three years for air travel to return to pre-pandemic levels.
Gov. Jay Inslee loosens COVID-19 restrictions for some activities in Washington state
Updated at 9:10 a.m.
Washington state Governor Jay Inslee has loosened some restrictions on youth sports and businesses such as restaurants and movie theaters under different phases of the state’s Safe Start plan.
“We have shown progress because we have masked up and as a result we are rolling out some new protocols to allow people to start playing sports again and to allow many businesses to start getting back into business,” he said at a virtual press conference Tuesday.
He did not lift the pause on counties advancing phases, and he did not move any counties backward.
Instead, he announced some specific things that will now be allowed in different phases.
Members of different households will now be able to be seated together at restaurants indoors, and restaurants will be able to serve alcohol as late as 11 p.m. in phase two and phase three counties. The table size will be six in phase two and eight in phase three.
Asked about the change in the indoor dining restriction among people from different households, the governor said: “We found out that restaurants were not totally abiding by this and not really enforcing it ... . It was aggravating to people and it was not reducing transmissions.”
Libraries will be allowed to have some indoor activity at 25-percent capacity in phase two counties, like museums.
Movie theaters will be allowed to have 25-percent occupancy in phase two and 50-percent occupancy in phase three, with social distancing required and masks required outside of eating and drinking.
The guidelines for school-related and non-school related sports will be now be in line, and both indoor and outdoor sports will be put into different risk categories as far as when they can restart. Local metrics will also be part of that decision, and “some tournaments may still be restricted,” the governor said.
There will also be rules about transportation, group size and masks. Spectators are still prohibited at professional and college sporting events, and for the most part at youth sports and adult recreational sports.
This story was originally published October 7, 2020 at 9:12 AM.
