Coronavirus update: Washington state suspends prison visitations

The Washington State Department of Corrections is suspending visitations at its facilitates in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Beginning Friday, the department said it is putting these restrictions in place:

• Suspending visitation at all correctional facilities in Washington, including extended family visits.
• Restricting access for all individuals, with the exception of employees/contract staff and legal professionals, to the Monroe Correctional Complex, Washington Corrections Center and Washington Corrections Center for Women.
• Suspending all tours and events involving four or more outside guests at all facilities.

The department is implementing enhanced screening protocols for all employees, contract staff, incarcerated individuals and others entering DOC facilities.

“The Department did not make this decision without extensive discussion,” said Secretary Steve Sinclair in a press release. “We know how important visitation and events are to our incarcerated population and their families. Leading up to this, we’d implemented increased cleaning protocols, distributed enhanced health services guidelines and encouraged the incarcerated population to take extra precautions. While we anticipate moving to enhanced screening fairly soon so we can restore visitation, we encourage friends and family to keep in contact during this time utilizing JPay, video visiting, telephone calls and mail correspondence.”

DOC announced later that an correctional employee has tested positive for COVID-19. That person would remain at home until they cover, the department said.

Metro Parks announces closures

Metro Parks Tacoma is closing many of its facilities at the end of Friday in response to Gov. Jay Inslee’s orders about public health guidance and social distancing.

According to a release, these facilities will close at the end of their regular schedule on Friday:

• Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
• Northwest Trek Wildlife Park
• All four community centers (Eastside, STAR, People’s, Norpoint)
• Tacoma Nature Center
• W.W. Seymour Conservatory
• Fort Nisqually Living History Museum
• All programs are canceled, including indoor, outdoor, and volunteer work parties.
  
  

The closures are effective through March 31.

Numbers continue to climb

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.

Legislature allocates money to COVID-19 battle

The Washington state legislature ended its 60-day session ended Thursday night.

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak that has killed 31 people and continues to spread throughout the state, lawmakers approved a bill to tap $200 million from the state’s “rainy-day fund” to respond to the novel coronavirus. That consists of $175 million to state and local public health agencies and $25 million for a new unemployment account to help businesses and workers disrupted by the pandemic.

Schools closed until at least April 24

All K-12 public and private schools in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties will close for more than a month to help slow the progression of COVID-19 coronavirus in the region, Gov. Jay Inslee announced in a press conference Thursday.

The closure will last for six weeks and requires schools to close Monday, March 16 through Friday, April 24.

The executive order for the three counties includes 43 districts and 600,000 students. The order will affect more than 136,000 public school students in Pierce County.

Tacoma Public Schools serves more than 30,000 students across 50 schools and employs roughly 5,000 people.

Air travel restrictions might be considered

President Donald Trump on Thursday said domestic travel restrictions affecting areas where the coronavirus has hit hardest could become a possibility.

According to a report in The New York Times, Trump said he could restrict domestic travel to hard-hit states such as Washington or California.

Trump reportedly said the issue had not yet been discussed but added, “Is it a possibility? Yes, if somebody gets a little bit out of control, if an area gets too hot,” according to the Times report.

Tacoma declares state of emergency

The City of Tacoma declared a state of emergency in response to the coronavirus, city officials announced Thursday.

The proclamation will allow the city to waive certain contracting and budget requirements, authorize staff to implement emergency purchasing requirements and take other steps in response to the emergency, the city said in a press release.

An employee in the city’s Environmental Services Solid Waste Division tested presumed positive for COVID-19 earlier this week.

UW labs running low on pipettes

The University of Washington labs, where much of the COVID-19 testing is being done across the state, announced a pipette shortage on Friday.

The University of Washington Virology lab tweeted that it needs help with restocking the pipette supply.

A pipette is a narrow tube used to measure or transfer fluids.

The clinical virology lab is currently completing more than 1,000 tests a day, with capacity up to 2,500 daily tests. The Virology lab said they expect to ramp up to 5,000 tests a day. The Department of Health’s state laboratory tests about 400 samples a day.

The lab needs Roche Magnapure filter tips, the email said. Laboratories and researchers are asked to pitch in.

“This is critical to public health and we are working to ensure a steady stream of needed supplies,” the tweet said.

Tacoma police close substations to public

Effective immediately, Tacoma police are closing all five of its substations to the public.

Officers will continue working from the buildings but will not be taking crime reports.

The department created a new web page — cityoftacoma.org/ReportCrime — to help residents best figure out how to report crimes or issues.

This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 9:09 AM.