See below for today's COVID-19 information. Please forward as widely as you would like.
I want to hear from you, contact me anytime.

Our Mukiltean of April 25, 2020 is Pengtao Luo, owner of the Lotus Chinese Restaurant! A few weeks ago, Pengtao Luo posted on Nextdoor his appreciation for community support for his restaurant, and his family. He shared that although he didn't know how to fully express his gratitude, he decided to prepare 100 masks to share with anyone in the community. He said, "I believe as long as we work together, we must overcome all the difficulties! Come on my friends!" He encouraged others to visit his restaurant, no need to order food, just come to pick up a mask.

Lotus Chinese is still open Monday through Saturday for take-out. Support a local restaurant today by ordering lunch or dinner for take-out or delivery, in honor of Pengtao Luo and his family.

Do you know someone who deserves to be the Mukiltean of the Day? Nominate them!

This site shows a state by state assessment of how quickly COVID-19 is spreading. You can see how close Washington is right around the safe, key point of 1 to 1 person spread (but not quite there yet), and how many other states are above that, with risk of a quicker spread.

Update from the SnoCo Public Health on planning, testing and data. From the update:
* The community should be prepared for the need to re-escalate at one or more points in time in the next year or two as we wait for a vaccine to emerge.
* There are approximately 2,500 tests being performed in Snohomish County weekly. The goal moving forward isn’t necessary a number of tests, but rather that time to get tested and find out results.
* Case counts will no longer be updated over the weekend. Instead, the team’s limited resources be focused on case investigations.

Sponsored by Providence Institute for a Healthier Community, the Snohomish County Mask Brigade has launched and is here for you.

Mask makers can use this form for more information to get their donations on the pick-up list: to donate masks, click here

Volunteers will pick up masks their home and transport them to organizations in need. If you are an organization in need of masks, use this form to post your COVID-19 related needand check ‘homemade masks’ on the form. This will be used to make your needs visible on www.givewelllocal.org and to the community organization mask distributors.

The Employment Security Department (ESD) launched a redesigned online system this week. It appears to be working better each day, especially if you visit it during in the afternoon or evening. Except.... they think 1 million people will file this weekend and they are asking people to wait until after Monday, if they can. More information to answer your questions is below.

They've had unprecedented demand for services – up to 500,000 users per hour. They've had performance issues on the site because of it, but the informational areas of the website are not impacted and can address questions people may have.

ESD expects to have about 1,000 people providing some form of customer service now. That includes current and new ESD staff, staff from across state government, contract staff and even ESD retirees who are rising to the call of public service yet again!

As people continue to apply for benefits or file weekly claims, here are a few things to keep in mind:
• The more people prepare before they apply, the smoother their process will be to get their benefits.
• You can apply for benefits at any time. This is not a first-come-first-served program. There is no risk of funds running out.
• Payments are retroactive to a worker’s eligibility date. Once you have successfully applied and backdated your start date, your first payment will be for all weeks for which you are eligible.
• Weekly claims can be filed seven days a week. They can also be filed over the automated phone system: 800-318-6022
• If you are having difficulty filing your application, please visit ESD’s help page.
• The Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD) offers daily webinars that cover the application process for unemployment benefits and common mistakes that delay payments. View thepresentation slides here. See the schedule and sign up here.

Lastly, even if it says you have to conduct a weekly job search, you do not. Just click no. You won't be disqualified. That requirement is optional right now and you don't need to report job search activities to ESD.

This articleis pretty amazing, telling the story of 43 workers who stayed for 28 days inside their factory, voluntarily, creating a product that is a key element of medical masks and surgical gowns. It's a story of sacrifice and

This year's Northwest Folklife Festival is postponed indefinitely, but they are taking some content online! First, they did a week of virtual programming earlier this month, with videos of dance from around the world, including activities and lessons. It's all available here.
The theme of their festival is Living Legacies, and they have a Living Legacies toolkit to help capture the stories of your family. Check out the toolkit here, and use this time to record some facetimes or phone calls with your family. There are tips on how how to properly record your interview, how to reflect on it, what questions to ask, and more.

All parks are closed except for 76th Street/Community Garden entrance to Japanese Gulch for trail access. If you want to access Big Gulch, I would encourage you to park at the library, rather than on the street near 92nd Street Park.

Trails and sidewalks continue to be open for your physical activity! Please respect physical distance of six feet.

All City Facilities closure: City operations will continue via primarily phone, email and online. The public is encouraged to call (425) 263-8000 for assistance with City services or visit our website at www.mukilteowa.gov.

Remember the non-emergency number at (425) 407-3999 or email cv19violations@mukilteowa.gov. If you have an emergency, call 911. (But don't call with questions about the Governor's order and what's open or not). You can also report violations or questions about violations to the State via this link.

For more information on city facilities, see this link.

Current case count is 52 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases identified in Mukilteo, with no deaths amongst those cases (that's one new one, it's been the same for several days). County case counts are available at this link, updated each weekday at 2pm.

If our ratio of recovery is the same as the County, approximately 33 of those cases should be recovered.

City of Mukilteo COVID-19 page

Snohomish Health District
Washington State Department of Health
Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
COVID-19 Testing Guidelines from Public Health – Seattle & King County
Find information in other languages
Washington State COVID-19 Response

What to do if you are sick: CDC Resources

Watch out for COVID related scams. If you are unsure about whether something is real or a scam, the Justice Department created a central fraud hotline (1-866-720-5721 or disaster@leo.gov). You can also call the non-emergency line at 425-407-3999.