Tag Archives: Novel Coronavirus

News

Mayor Announces New Testing Site at Chief Sealth High School, Says Site Strategically Positioned for Hardest-Hit Communities

by Carolyn Bick

The City of Seattle will be standing up a new free novel coronavirus testing site at the Chief Sealth High School (CSHS) Athletic Complex in Southwest Seattle, Mayor Jenny Durkan announced at a press conference on Aug. 20. The new site will open on Aug. 28 and will bring the city’s testing capacity to 4,000 tests per day.

Standing in front of the newly opened testing site in the parking lot of Rainier Beach High School (RBHS) in Southeast Seattle, Durkan, District 2 City Councilmember Tammy Morales, and Seattle Fire Department Chief Harold Scoggins outlined the city’s plan for the new site. Like the RBHS testing site, the CSHS testing site will be a walk-up. It will accept anyone who comes to get a test regardless of whether they have insurance and does not require a person to be a United States citizen to get tested. Though registration is encouraged, it is not required. The new site will be open from 9:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

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News

Senior Center Meal Program Works Every Weekday to Fill Need, But Challenges Remain

by Carolyn Bick

Shiny, blushed coral apples sit in rows on the tables in front of brown paper bags. Lined up almost perfectly straight, one right next to the other, they almost look like little cherubs, dutifully waiting their turn to leap into a bank of puffy clouds.

But they aren’t mythical creatures. They’re vital sources of nutrition for the more than 160 seniors who rely on the Southeast Seattle Senior Center’s hot meal program. On this particular Thursday morning, a handful of masked volunteers works to prepare the day’s meal, a steaming-hot, colorful mix of vegetables cooked with golden cubes of fried tofu served over a couple scoops of white rice.

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News

Relief Fund for Undocumented Workers to Go Live in Autumn, Inslee Says

by Carolyn Bick

Though his office unveiled a $40 million fund for undocumented workers earlier this week, Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee said in a press conference on Aug. 13 that the one-time payment fund won’t be available for undocumented workers until the autumn. He also said that the state has made available another $3 million in CARES Act funding for certain food production workers who have to quarantine themselves, due to infection from the novel coronavirus.

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News

New COVID-19 Testing Site to Open at Rainier Beach High School

by Carolyn Bick

South Seattle will see a third free, walk-up novel coronavirus testing site at Rainier Beach High School, starting on Friday, Aug. 7.

Joined by Public Health – Seattle & King County Director Patty Hayes and Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins in a press conference on July 31, Mayor Jenny Durkan announced that the new testing site will replace the one that opened in April at the Atlantic City Boat Ramp. 

The test will be free, neither citizenship nor insurance is required. While pre-registration also isn’t required, it is encouraged. The site will be open from 9:30 am. – 5 :30 p.m., and will be accessible for those with disabilities.

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News

As State Hits 50,000-Case Milestone, South King County Appears to Be Next Potential Outbreak Hotspot

by Carolyn Bick

Washington State has reached a new milestone in the ongoing saga of the novel coronavirus pandemic. As of today, there have been 50,000 people who have tested positive for the virus, since the start of the pandemic.

This is not a good number.

Continue reading As State Hits 50,000-Case Milestone, South King County Appears to Be Next Potential Outbreak Hotspot →
News

First Jail Health Services Employee at King County Jail Tests Positive for COVID-19

by Carolyn Bick

A jail health services (JHS) employee at the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle has tested positive for COVID-19, according to an official Public Health – Seattle & King County letter the Emerald received from an anonymous source. The employee is the first JHS staffer to test positive.

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News

Most of the Continuing Increase in Novel Coronavirus Cases Throughout the State Is Among 20-Year-Olds

by Carolyn Bick

Washington State continues to see a dramatic rise in novel coronavirus cases, with most of the new cases now occurring in young people ages 20–29. But despite the rapidly increasing caseload statewide, Gov. Jay Inslee stopped short of moving counties back into earlier phases of the state’s Safe Start plan.

In a press conference on July 14, Inslee shared several graphs, including one that showed cases are continuing to increase. They are now at almost 112 cases per 100,000 people. Just last week, they sat at a little more than 95 cases. The rate of infection in western Washington is now more than 1.5 and just above 1 in eastern Washington. This means that one person is infecting a little fewer than two people in western Washington, and one person is infecting about one other person in eastern Washington.

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News

Undocumented Workers Must Wait on COVID-19 Relief Fund, Will Not Be Eligible for State’s First Public Option Health Program

by Carolyn Bick

Washington State’s undocumented workers waiting for the same kind of economic relief their documented peers receive will have to keep waiting, Gov. Jay Inslee’s office told the Emerald. They also won’t be eligible for the state’s first public option health program, Cascade Care, when it begins next year.

In late May, Inslee said his office was looking into the possibility of creating a novel coronavirus pandemic relief fund for undocumented workers, who are ineligible to receive unemployment benefits or federal economic relief. In an email to the Emerald on July 10, Inslee’s Deputy Communications Director and Press Secretary Mike Faulk said that the reason a fund is taking so long is due to a number of factors, including the complexity of the task and the recent mandate that requires certain staff members to take one furlough day per week, in an effort to cut costs.

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As State’s COVID-19 Case Rate Surges Past April Numbers, King County Sees Increase in Cases Among Young People

by Carolyn Bick

Sporting a Seahawks face mask, Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee in a July 7 press conference tried to reframe the state’s burgeoning novel coronavirus case rate in a more positive light, but the state’s current numbers still paint a bleak picture. As of this writing, the case rate is even higher than it was in April, at what had previously been the peak of the pandemic in the state.

Joined by Washington State Department of Health State Health Officer Dr. Kathy Lofy, Inslee showed a graph that showed a dramatic spike between June and today. As of the press conference, the state is seeing more than 95 cases per 100,000 Washingtonians in the last two weeks, which is about 20 more cases per 100,000 people than at the previous peak in April.

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News

King County Council Passes $86 Million in Emergency Funding, Looks to Future Legislation To Make Juneteenth a Holiday For County Employees

by Carolyn Bick

Following a unanimous vote at a meeting on June 23, King County Council has approved a third round of emergency funding to the tune of $86 million. Council Chair Claudia Balducci also said that legislation to make Juneteenth a holiday for King County employees will be introduced at a future meeting.

The emergency funding money, which will come from the county’s general fund, will provide support for several programs throughout the county meant to combat both the novel coronavirus and racism, which the council formally recognized as a public health crisis on June 18.

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