Coronavirus updates: State passes 258k cases; Inslee announces new plan
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
The Washington state Department of Health reported 2,337 new cases of COVID-19 and 59 deaths Tuesday.
Pierce County reported 210 cases Tuesday and five new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 312 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 258,767 cases and 3,541 deaths. The case total includes 10,187 cases listed as probable. Those numbers are up from 256,430 cases and 3,482 deaths on Monday. DOH revises previous case and death counts daily.
Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.
As of Dec. 17, the date with the most recent complete data, 96 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.
Preliminary reports indicate average daily hospital admissions were 105 around Christmas.
About 13.1% (1,117) of all staffed adult acute care hospital beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients Tuesday. In the state’s intensive care units, 20.7% (249) of staffed adult beds were occupied by suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.
Gov. Inslee announces new ‘Healthy Washington’ plan that focuses on reducing case rates
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
So long, Safe Start. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday unveiled a new plan for reopening the economy from COVID-19 restrictions.
“2020 is officially behind us, we know that brighter days are ahead,” Inslee said at a virtual press conference, “and we’re here to talk about a new way to move our state forward economically while we’re beating the pandemic.”
Under the new “Healthy Washington — Roadmap to Recovery” plan, counties are grouped into eight regions based on health system resources. All regions are now considered to be in Phase 1 of the two-phase plan, which goes into effect Jan. 11.
Thurston County is in the west region with Lewis, Grays Harbor and Pacific counties. Pierce County is combined with King and Snohomish counties in the Puget Sound region.
COVID-19 data for a region will need to be improving in order for the region to move into Phase 2. The data will be calculated and made public each Friday.
The governor’s office foreshadowed that there would be a new plan last week, when he extended current statewide restrictions only one week through Jan. 11. Those limitations closed restaurants and bars to indoor dining, stopped indoor activities at gyms, and limited occupancy at retail stores to 25% in mid-November.
Phase 1 of the new plan mostly aligns with statewide restrictions currently in place, but includes what Inslee called a “small resumption of activity statewide.”
While fitness centers have been closed to indoor activity, some very limited fitness activities will be allowed in Phase 1. For example, appointment-based training in gyms with a maximum of 45-minute sessions with no more than one customer per room (or per 500 square feet in big facilities) will be allowed.
“Outdoor entertainment establishments,” including zoos and outdoor concert venues, have been closed but now will be allowed. Timed ticketing is required under the plan, along with the standard mask and physical-distancing requirements.
Indoor social gatherings are still prohibited, but the maximum number of people allowed at outdoor social gatherings in Phase 1 will increase to a maximum of 10 people from outside a household, with a limit of two households. Current restrictions set that limit at five people from outside the household or fewer.
Indoor dining is still prohibited in Phase 1, while outdoor dining is allowed with a maximum of six people and two households per table.
Retail stores are still limited to 25% capacity.
Restaurant hit with order, fine for COVID-19 violations
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
After nearly a month of serving customers indoors despite state rules against it, Stuffy’s II Restaurant of Longview, Washington received official notice Monday of a temporary restraining order and $126,000 fine.
The Ocean Beach Highway restaurant’s owners are set to appear at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in Cowlitz County Superior Court in response to a temporary restraining order filed by the state Attorney General’s Office, the Longview Daily News reported.
The state Department of Labor and Industries also issued a citation for “willful serious violations for having inside dining each day for seven days Dec. 22-28,” for a total penalty of $126,000, said L&I spokesperson Dina Lorraine.
A “Stand for Stuffy’s” rally to protest the order is planned one hour ahead of the court hearing.
“We don’t have a ton of time to prep ... so we are doing the best we can,” said Skai Hogue, the owners’ granddaughter and an employee at Stuffy’s. “Other than that, the community support is still really great.”
She noted that the restaurant is working with a lawyer from Eastern Washington who has represented other restaurants in similar cases. The owners plan to ask for a continuance in court, so they can formally add the lawyer to the case.
“I believe the plan is to fight this every step of the way, because we have a right to earn a living, and that’s all we are trying to do,” Hogue said.
218 inmates positive for COVID-19 at prison near Vancouver
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
State officials say more than 200 inmates at Larch Corrections Center northeast of Vancouver, Washington have tested positive for COVID-19.
The Washington State Department of Corrections in a bulletin released Thursday said Larch Correction Center had six incarcerated individuals that tested positive for COVID-19. In the bulletin released Monday, the prison reported 218 inmates had tested positive, KING-TV reported.
The prison, located in Yacolt, Washington, has a capacity of 480 inmates.
State officials said all inmates who tested positive are being housed together to reduce the spread of the virus, which is standard protocol.
“As we move forward in the coming weeks, you can expect to see cohorting in the dayrooms and shower/bathroom areas, serial testing of our incarcerated population, and an increased awareness to Personal Protective Equipment protocols, cleaning, sanitizing, and social distancing,” WSDOC Superintendent James C. Miller Jr. wrote in a Dec. 30, 2020 memo addressing the outbreak at Larch Correction Center.
