Coronavirus updates: Restaurants hanging by a thread after latest shutdown
The Washington state Department of Health reported 1,987 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 11 deaths on Thursday.
Pierce County reported 213 cases Thursday and seven new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 223 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 137,411 cases and 2,603 deaths, up from 135,424 cases and 2,592 deaths Wednesday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.
Thirty-four people were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Oct. 31, the most recent date with complete data. Average daily hospitalizations peaked in early April at 78.
On Nov. 8, the most recent date with complete data, 7,486 specimens were collected statewide, with 10.1% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 7.4%. More than 2.8 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 36,471 cases and 846 deaths. Pierce County is second, with 13,912 cases, according to the state’s tally. That number differs from the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s tally due to lags in reporting data. Yakima County has the second highest number of deaths at 291.
All counties in Washington have cases. Six counties have case counts of fewer than 100.
For the past seven days, Washington had a case rate of 29.2 per 100,000 people. The national rate for the same period is 49.7 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. North Dakota has the highest rate in the United States, at 177.4. Hawaii is the lowest, at 5.
There have been more than 11.6 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 251,970 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Thursday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest number of reported cases and deaths of any nation.
How does this COVID-19 surge compare to earlier ones in Pierce County, Washington?
As Pierce County enters its third wave of COVID-19, cases have grown at an alarming rate, already outpacing total cases in the first eight months.
Deaths are a lagging indicator, following cases and hospitalization. So far, the third wave has accounted for 50 percent of all the county’s cases logged since March and nearly 28 percent of total COVID-19 deaths.
Here’s a closer look at the data:
PIERCE COUNTY
COVID-19’s three surges in Pierce County reflect three major inflection points that have been noted in previous summaries this year from the health department: the March-April shutdown of schools and businesses, the Phase 2 reopenings beginning in early June, and vacations and social-holiday gatherings from July to now.
Cases and deaths
▪ From March through the end of April, Pierce County’s first surge, a total of 1,443 new cases and 51 deaths were reported, according to month-by-month totals provided to The News Tribune by the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department on Nov. 18.
▪ The county’s second surge, roughly June through the end of August, the health department reported 4,782 new cases and 79 deaths.
▪ In the third wave, September through Nov. 18, the county has seen 6,756 new cases and 60 deaths.
Even if you add May’s figures to the first wave (508 cases and 26 deaths), the county’s third surge already has seen more cases than the first two surges combined. Deaths lag hospitalization rates and cases, so it’s still to be seen if the number of deaths will also outpace the first eight months of the pandemic.
April was the deadliest month in Pierce County in the pandemic, with 43 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, followed by August with 37. November so far has had 17 deaths.
There are an estimated 4,155 cases still active in the county, according to the health department’s data, which is about 31 percent of all total cases logged since March.
MultiCare Auburn site sees more COVID-19 cases among staff, patients and 1 new death
Tacoma-based MultiCare on Thursday announced more cases have been detected in a COVID-19 outbreak at its Auburn Medical Center, for a total of 14 patients (two of whom have died) and 12 workers with confirmed positive results.
The health system reported that five more patients in the hospital’s behavioral health unit have tested positive for COVID-19 and a second COVID-19 positive patient died Nov. 16.
Seven additional workers also have tested positive.
The outbreak started with an initial patient case discovered Nov. 5 in the memory-care section of the behavioral health unit on the fourth floor, spreading to eight patients and five employees. One patient died Nov. 10.
According to the health system: “As soon as we became aware of the positive case, we followed our COVID-19 protocols and immediately began notification and testing for potentially exposed patients and employees and isolated the positive patient. We then isolated any suspected cases and the eight additional confirmed COVID-19 patients, creating a specific COVID unit for these patients.”
The health system added that the cases are confined to the locked unit “where visitors are not allowed.”
“The affected patient population, in particular, is unable to be consistently compliant with masking and tends to commingle with fellow patients more than other units in the hospital.”
MultiCare said it is continuing to work with Public Health - Seattle & King County on follow-up testing in the investigation.
“We have also been regularly communicating with the families of the patients in this unit so they have the latest information about their family member. There has not been spread outside that unit that we are aware of,” the health system said Thursday.
MultiCare says 212 employees were in the unit in the 14 days before the first positive case was detected, and said all have been tested.
Without a plan, state shutdown throws restaurants into despair, and maybe to death row
Gearing up for its third summer season, the waterfront entertainment venue Ocean 5 in Gig Harbor and adjacent restaurant Table 47 employed 137 people, some part-time.
Under the first round of pandemic restrictions in March, manager Aaron Shook laid off all but eight of them. When half-capacity dining in Pierce County resumed in June under Gov. Jay Inslee’s Safe Start plan, he was able to rehire about 30 more.
On Wednesday, he laid them off again.
“There’s numbness but also a wash of emotion around it,” Shook told The News Tribune that day, the beginning of a second pandemic-induced ban on indoor dining in Washington state. “With going backwards, we really hit a point where we said we can’t justify the loss anymore.”
The restaurant and venue, which normally would have hosted dozens of events this summer, has been operating at “a significant loss” since March. Despite nearly nine months of slow bleed, “It was worth it to us to keep our team working,” he said.
Already on the brink with reduced capacity and just plain lower revenue, the business will only survive in the long-term if it amputates the highest costs today.
The governor told Washington businesses the latest partial lockdown would last four weeks. Many restaurant owners don’t believe it will be that short.
Chad McKay, the CEO of El Gaucho, a steakhouse with five restaurants in Washington and one in Portland, Oregon, heard “four weeks” and said, “And then you just realize they’re not gonna let us open this year.”
John Xitco of Tacoma’s X Group, among its properties the Argentinian steakhouse Asado and E9 Brewing Company, said last weekend he was “frustrated and upset.”
All three of these operators expressed the same consternation, not with some new restrictions, but rather the extent of them. They anticipated further capacity reductions, a service curfew or smaller party sizes. They did not expect to lose their bread and butter, again, without a plan.
IS OUTDOOR DINING ENOUGH?
Many restaurants might not have access to outdoor space or the funding to build it. Local governments have stepped up to assist with various grants, often funded through the CARES Act, but is it enough?
The state has earmarked $50 million to support affected businesses, Inslee said Sunday. How far will it go? When will it arrive? How will it be distributed? None of these questions was answered when the governor addressed the state earlier this week.
“That was probably the most heartbreaking part of this latest setback,” said Shook, “is that once again they put forth policies that have devastating impacts on small businesses like ours and others in hospitality, and other industries, without a solid working plan to support those businesses.”
He paused and added, “It’s just — you would think they would have gotten it by now.”
Shortly after the governor’s announcement on Sunday, Washington Hospitality Association president Anthony Anton said, “This industry was hanging by a thread before today. If this is our December, we need relief.”
His coalition, which represents restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues, has been fighting for outdoor tenting guidelines from the governor’s office for weeks, he said. Two-sided tents were permitted this summer, allowing for ventilation. According to guidance released Monday, winterized versions can still only have two walls (three with a “large enough” opening “to create cross ventilation.” Pods and igloo-like structures are permitted, but they must be “aired out” between parties and empty for at least 10 minutes before sanitizing.
Craig Sailor, Kristine Sherred and Debbie Cockrell contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 8:44 AM.
