Coronavirus updates: State passes 177k cases; report notes impact on child welfare
Updated at 9:30 a.m.
The Washington State Department of Health on Sunday reported 1,654 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. The department is no longer reporting deaths on weekends.
Pierce County reported 37 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday. Pierce County had a total of 247 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Sunday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 177,447 cases and 2,925 deaths, up from 175,793 cases on Saturday.
King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 47,435 cases and 914 deaths. Pierce is second in cases with 18,533. Spokane County has 18,433.
All counties in Washington have cases.
More Americans willing to get COVID vaccine as rollout nears, poll finds
Updated at 9:30 a.m.
Most Americans are willing to take a COVID-19 vaccine when it’s available, a new poll found.
A Gallup poll of 2,968 adults conducted Nov. 16-29 and released Tuesday found 63% of Americans would agree to be vaccinated against the coronavirus if the shot was “available right now at no cost.” The other 37% said they would not agree to be vaccinated.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The 63% of respondents now willing to take the vaccine is a jump from 58% in October and 50% in September.
Willingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine has also “nearly rebounded” to the previous high of 66%, which Gallup reported in late July.
Meanwhile, the percentage of respondents who said they would not get vaccinated is lower than it has been in recent months, down from 42% in October and 50% in September. It’s also near the low of 34% reported in July.
The United States is on the cusp of having a vaccine ready to roll out as multiple pharmaceutical companies work to get their vaccine candidates approved and administered to some Americans by the end of the year.
The U.S. Food and Drug administration on Tuesday said data from drugmaker Pfizer’s vaccine trials were “consistent” with its recommendations for emergency use authorization, CNBC reports. The agency is expected to decide whether to authorize the vaccine in the coming days.
Pfizer says its vaccine has an efficacy rate of 95% and that it could produce up to 50 million doses this year.
Drugmaker Moderna is also seeking emergency use authorization from the FDA and has said data show its vaccine has an efficacy rate of over 94%.
COVID-19 continues to rage in Spokane and Moses Lake areas
Updated at 9:30 a.m.
The coronavirus pandemic continues to rage in the Spokane region, with outbreaks linked to long-term care facilities and the Airway Heights Corrections Center.
Meanwhile, Grant County continues to see the effects of a 300-person wedding near Ritzville that became a COVID-19 superspreader event. That November wedding has been linked to outbreaks and possible deaths in long-term care facilities in the Moses Lake area.
The Spokesman-Review reports health officials determined that care facilities staff in Grant County attended the wedding and later tested positive for COVID-19.
At least three care facilities in Grant County have reported outbreaks since the wedding, but a definitive connection between those outbreaks and the wedding remains unclear, according to a press release.
In neighboring Adams County, seven COVID-19 cases are linked to the wedding, officials said.
Washington’s COVID-19 guidance limits wedding ceremonies to 30 people with indoor receptions prohibited.
In Spokane County there were 969 new COVID cases reported Saturday-Monday.
Washington state report notes virus impact on child welfare
Updated at 9:30 a.m.
Foster youth in Washington state have spent more nights in hotel rooms while overall reports of child abuse and neglect declined during the coronavirus pandemic, a report said.
The Washington State Office of the Family and Children’s Ombuds released a report on Monday highlighting the “systemic issues” in the state’s child welfare system, The Northwest News Network reported.
“The pandemic has created financial hardship and stress on many families, creating an environment that may result in higher rates of child maltreatment,” office Director Patrick Dowd said. “Children, however, are isolated from their communities and reports of abuse or neglect to Child Protective Services have fallen.”
The report, which covers from September 2019 to August 2020, found that calls to Child Protective Services dropped by 42% after schools ended in-person instruction.
“The bottom line is a lot of these children are not being seen by teachers, by school nurses, by counselors,” Dowd said. “And that’s had an impact on individuals having an eye on children and assuring child safety and reporting concerns to child protective services.”
Officials warned in the report that cases of child abuse and neglect are likely going unreported. The department also said there was a 20% increase over the last year in the number of nights foster youth have spent in hotel rooms and child welfare offices because of a lack of placement options.
In 2015, the department reported 120 so-called placement exceptions, or the number of nights that youth spent in out-of-home settings, officials said. There were 1,500 in 2019 and 1,800 this year. Dowd attributed the increase in part to some foster parents being reluctant to take new youth because of COVID-19.
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 9:40 AM.
