King, Snohomish COVID-19 cases rise, Pierce holds steady at 17; libraries cancel meetings
New numbers Thursday show the novel coronavirus continuing to spread, with both King and Snohomish counties showing another jump in numbers.
In an update posted after 1 p.m. Pierce County was holding steady with 17 COVID-19 cases.
In King County, 270 coronavirus cases have been reported as of Thursday, up from 234, with 27 deaths.
Snohomish County now has 108 confirmed cases, up from 68, and three deaths.
Grant County is the only other county so far to report a death and has one confirmed case.
The state now has roughly 457 known cases across 13 counties, and at least 31 deaths, according to totals posted Thursday evening by the Washington state Department of Health.
In an emergency proclamation on Thursday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced that K-12 school districts in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties would be closed through April 24.
“We know this is at least 10 times more dangerous than the flu,” Inslee said at the news conference. “In order to mitigate the impacts today, I make the very difficult decision to order closures of schools public and private, K-12, to end classes by this coming Monday (March 17).”
State government officials said other districts outside the three counties now at the epicenter of the outbreak should be preparing now for their own contingency plans, as mandated closures may expand in the future.
LIBRARY SYSTEMS CANCEL MEETINGS, CLOSE CONFERENCE ROOMS
Also on Thursday, the Pierce County Library System announced service changes to its network as part of mitigation efforts in the spread of coronavirus:
▪ It has canceled all classes and events in libraries, such as story times, author visits, computer classes and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) events, currently through April 30.
▪ It has postponed Pierce County READS, the Library’s community-one book program, with the best-selling author Amy Stewart, which was scheduled for March 28. The Library plans to reschedule this event for the fall.
▪ All public meetings in public meeting rooms are canceled.
▪ The library system has closed all conference rooms to the public.
Additionally it is “asking staff and the public to keep a 4 to 6 foot distance from each other while using the library.”
While for now the 20 libraries in the Pierce County system remain open, it also encourages patrons to use virtual options it offers to check out its e-books, audiobooks and magazines.
It also has assistance for those with kids at home, and for parents trying to find some stress relief, ancestry research options to fill the time.
“The Library encourages people to use the Library’s many online resources, from Homework Help with online real-time tutors to help students who may now be studying remotely to HeritageQuest for people to research their ancestry as a stress relief while they may be staying home during this time of social distancing.”
“The Library System will be open, unless through consultation with Tacoma Pierce County Health Department or another authorized public official or agency, the Library is advised or directed to close.”
Tacoma Public Library issued a statement Thursday evening to say it too, was canceling “all public programs, events, and meeting room reservations through April 30.”
“Early on, we removed all ‘soft’ toys from children’s areas and stepped up our disinfecting of ‘hard’ toys, and of high-touch surfaces. We have now removed all toys, and are also implementing and encouraging social distancing practices in our libraries.”
The statement also noted that the library network had “made adjustments, such as closing some computer stations so that patrons can maintain 6 feet of personal space, and asking patrons to stand 6 feet away from the checkout desk.”
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 3:26 PM.
