Coronavirus updates: State passes 187k cases; job search requirements remain suspended
Updated at 5:30 p.m.
Around 2,500 restaurants have permanently closed across Washington state during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the state hospitality association fears thousands more will close in the coming weeks as tight restrictions remain in place.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced on Tuesday, Dec. 8, that current restrictions, including restaurants remaining closed to indoor dining, will be extended until Monday, Jan. 4.
The extension of the restrictions into January means that thousands of restaurants will continue to suffer and that many more employees will be not working during the holidays, said Anthony Anton, CEO of the Washington Hospitality Association, during a press briefing following Inslee’s announcement.
“This announcement (of the restriction extension) is disappointing; I’m beyond frustrated,” said Anton, adding that shutting down indoor dining has closed off a safe, regulated outlet for the public and that people instead are spreading COVID-19 through less-safe social gatherings.
The estimation of around 2,500 permanent restaurant closures across the state between March and September comes from the association, which in August and September called and checked on every single eating establishment across the state.
Coffee and dessert shops have lost the most, at nearly 600, followed by Asian and American restaurants, each with more than 420 closures.
King County has suffered the most in terms of numbers, with more than 1,000 restaurants confirmed by the trade group as permanently closed. Snohomish and Pierce counties each have more than 200 confirmed closures.
In Whatcom County, the association estimates 81 eating establishments have closed between March and September; in Bellingham the total closures is estimated to be 48 during that time period.
Tacoma has lost more than twice that number, second only to Seattle, where more than 600 have closed.
Anton noted that across the state, 90% of the closures during that six-month period were independent restaurants and cafes.
UW suspends all football activities
Updated at 9:30 a.m.
The University of Washington has paused all team-related football activities due to an increase in positive COVID-19 tests within the program, the university announced Wednesday morning.
The status of Saturday’s game at Oregon remains unclear. The Huskies will not practice Wednesday and will undergo additional PCR testing. This is the first time UW announced it had to pause activities due to COVID-19 protocols.
UW Athletics gives COVID-19 testing updates on Wednesday nights. Last week, the department reported five active positive cases. At the time, UW had administered 5,607 PCR tests with 56 total positive cases since athletes began returning to campus on June 15.
The Huskies, who had two games canceled this season due to COVID-19 issues in other programs, are scheduled to play their first road game at Oregon on Saturday at 1 p.m. The winner would win the Pac-12 North and advance to the conference championship game on Dec. 18.
If the game is canceled, UW would automatically win the North because it has the highest winning percentage (.750) in the division.
State reports 3,542 new cases on Tuesday
Updated at 9 a.m.
The Washington state Department of Health reported 3,542 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 26 deaths Tuesday. A quarter of the state’s intensive care unit beds are now occupied by COVID-19 patients.
Up to 650 of the cases reported today might be duplicates, DOH said.
Pierce County reported 406 cases Tuesday and two new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 253 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 187,327 cases and 2,967 deaths, up from 183,785 cases and 2,941 deaths Monday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019. The DOH revises previous case and death counts daily.
One hundred three people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Nov. 19, the most recent date with complete data. Preliminary data indicates average daily admittances were 104 in early December. Average daily hospitalizations previously peaked during the April surge at 78.
Approximately 11.9% (1,114) of all staffed adult acute care hospital beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients on Tuesday. In the state’s intensive care units, 25.2% (294) of staffed adult beds were occupied by suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.
On Nov. 26, the most recent date with testing data, 11,327 specimens were collected statewide, with 21.6% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 15%. More than 3.1 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 50,188 cases and 929 deaths. Spokane County is second, with 19,865 cases. Snohomish County has the second highest number of deaths at 312.
All counties in Washington have cases. Only four counties have case counts of fewer than 100.
For the past seven days, Washington had a case rate of 36.8 per 100,000 people. The national rate for the same period is 60.1 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rhode Island has the highest rate in the United States, at 122.9. Hawaii is the lowest, at 6.4.
There have been more than 15 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 285,880 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 1.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 68 million.
Judge: Washington state gym does not have to pay virus fines
Updated at 9 a.m.
An appellate judge has ruled that the Washington state Department of Labor and Industries did not show sufficient evidence to fine a gym owner for alleged violations of coronavirus regulations in Yakima.
One of Anytime Fitness’ owners, Bradshaw Development Inc. was fined more than $9,000 in July and $29,000 in August after the department said the gym exposed its employees to COVID-19, The Yakima Herald-Republic reported.
Department officials claimed gym locations in Yakima, Selah and Union Gap operated in violation of the state’s reopening plan when the county was in Phase 1 of the plan and gyms were not allowed to reopen.
Judge William R. Strange ruled in favor of the gym after it appealed the fines. Anytime Fitness attorney Scott Brumback said the ruling was a victory for owner Wes Bradshaw.
“They fined him nearly $40,000,” Brumback said. “They were trying to make an example of him, and he stood up to them.”
Department of Labor spokesperson Tim Church said the agency disagrees with the decision.
The department has 20 days from when it was notified on Tuesday to request a written review from the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals. The board would then have 180 days to make a decision if the board approves the review.
“Our authority is based on employee worker safety and health. That’s a key issue,” Church said. “We do not have authority if there aren’t employees involved. We believe there were employees involved.”
Washington Gov. Inslee extends COVID-19 restrictions through early January
Updated at 9 a.m.
Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday announced a three-week extension of current COVID-19 restrictions that have eliminated indoor dining at restaurants and bars, closed gyms to indoor activity, and limited occupancy at retail stores.
The governor announced the extension at a virtual news conference Tuesday morning, where he also announced $50 million in new economic relief for businesses. That funding comes in addition to the $135 million relief package announced last month.
Inslee introduced the current restrictions in mid-November in response to a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Originally slated to last through Dec. 14, the extension will keep the same restrictions in place through Jan. 4.
That end date isn’t set in stone.
“This extension could end up shorter, if there was significant improvement,” Inslee said. “And, unfortunately, people know it could end up longer if there’s a deterioration. But, at this moment, we wanted to strike the right balance of allowing business owners to plan their next several weeks and deal with this uncertainty of the data.”
Officials say they see indications that restrictions may be working to curb pandemic activity, but they remain concerned.
Cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, state data show, with steep inclines in recent weeks. Data in the last week or so suggest there could have been a reduction in the rate of the increase, Inslee said. But, there are also “troubling” signs in preliminary data, he said.
It’s also too early to know if data reflects the results of Thanksgiving weekend gatherings.
Hospitalizations are still concerning, with 1,094 patients hospitalized with suspected and confirmed COVID-19 in the most recent state data and 81.4 percent of adult, staffed intensive care unit beds occupied by patients (overall, not just with COVID). The governor presented bleak projections at the news conference.
“In the worst-case scenario, we’d need to nearly double our ICU capacity before the end of this year, which is extremely difficult to achieve,” Inslee said, adding that hospitals used to be able to pull nurses from other hospitals, but there’s less reserve capacity now.
During the upcoming December holidays, Inslee urged residents again to not host gatherings that pose a risk for transmission of the coronavirus. At one point, he referred to the promise of a vaccine as a “bright light.”
Job search requirements to remain suspended
Updated at 9 a.m.
Gov. Jay Inslee announced that job search requirements for unemployment will remain suspended through Jan. 19, 2021.
This means the soonest claimants will be required to actively seek work is the week of Jan. 24. People can answer “no” to the job search question on weekly claims until the suspension is lifted.
The waiting week requirement will remain suspended until Dec. 21, 2020. This means unless further action is taken, new claims with an effective date of claim of Dec. 27, or later, will require an unpaid waiting week. This will not affect current claims.
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 9:08 AM.
