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Here is your Mayor's update, some COVID-19 information, some other useful information! Please forward as widely as you would like.
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Today, We Are In Phase 2

Wear your mask, pack hand sanitizer- let's all do our part to get through this.

I was on a call with state health officials and the Governor on Tuesday. The UW Director of the Institute for Disease Modeling has said that if we don't modify our behavior and wear masks, we are on track to be like Florida in 3 weeks.

Six months after the first case, Snohomish County's case rate is up to 80.7 per 100,000 population, marking more than a month of continued increases in case rates. Since our update on Friday, 162 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported.

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Disturbing Increase in Cases Involving Younger People, Large Gatherings

Snohomish Health District released information on Friday that showed an increase in cases among younger people. Of the 547 new cases reported June 28 – July 11, 52.1% were individuals under the age of 30. This highest percentage was found among 20-29 year olds, representing 164 new cases or 30% in a 2-week period. Those 30-39 represented the second highest, at 17.7% or 97 new cases.

There was also some preliminary data based information provided by contact tracers regarding social gatherings. Preliminary data from June 20 – July 11 showed 82 new cases (confirmed and probable) associated with at least 36 social gatherings. These gatherings were on average about 14 people. It is probably time to take a look at what each of us is doing. If you went to a backyard event thinking an outdoor activity was okay, or if you've expanded your social circle (because it's truly difficult to remain committed to the guidelines, I know), now is the time to take a step back. If we can stay strong, we can keep moving towards reopening our economy and getting our kids in school. If we falter at this point (which it looks like is happening), getting to phase 3 remains further out of reach.

As the Health District shared: "We are six months in, and we can’t offer an end date. We don’t want to sound like it’s all doom and gloom, because this county is a place where compassion and resilience are abundant. However, it’s not fair or helpful to sugarcoat it: This fall and winter have the potential to be particularly rough. At this very moment we appear to be in the early stages of a rising second wave that has zero chance of being reversed without changes to our collective behavior."

More information can be found at their blog, as well as through the linked image below- walking back through the last six months of the pandemic response.

covidtimelineSHD

Six Month Timeline on SHD site

Donate Blood

give blood

Bloodworks Northwest is bracing for a severe summer blood shortage that could limit local trauma centers access to blood. There will be a Pop-Up center in the Point Elliott Room at Rosehill Community Center on August 3rd & 6th. Please sign up now here.

Local News

new ferry

The Architect's Newspaper has a great story about the new Mukilteo Ferry Terminal. This article focuses on the environmentally minded design of the project, with this great quote from one of the designers: "We’re using the sun, the wind, and the rain to try and create a much more sensitive and light footprint on the site."

The State's High School Athletics Association announced changes to the school athletics schedule. The WIAA announcement is here. Golf and tennis are being moved to the fall and the usual fall sports of girls’ soccer, 1B/2B boys soccer, volleyball and football will now be scheduled to begin in the early spring of 2021 as part of WIAA Season 3, which starts in March.

Our City Firefighters responded to the huge fire on the Everett waterfront (King 5 coverage), along with dozens of other departments throughout Snohomish and King County. The Port issued a letter in appreciation of the response.

Local-ish news-- wearing masks does make a difference. Last week's statewide COVID report contrasts the sharp turnaround in Yakima County—where recent efforts to control the virus resulted in increased use of face masks and distancing (up to 95% of Yakima residents are wearing masks)—with the exponential and accelerating growth of cases in Spokane County.

Resources

The Small Business Administration reminded small businesses that the deadline to apply for the Paycheck Protection Program loan program is August 8th. See SBA’s tweet for a linkto connect to a SBA lender.

Home-care workers can now get a 31-day supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) from the State of Washington. This PDF walks through the stepsfor individual home-care workers to follow.

On July 15, updates to Washington’s Safe Start Plan were made to Personal Services. Personal services include Cosmetologists, Hairstylists, Barbers, Estheticians, Master Estheticians, Manicurists, Nail Salon Workers, Electrologists, Permanent Makeup Artists, Tattoo Artists, Cosmetology Schools, and Esthetics Schools. You can read the new guidance here.

CDC has guidance for event planning. This is useful for those considering events that could happen in Phase 4 (phase 3 will only allow gatherings of 10 as of now).

Be Aware of Scams

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has learned of scam text-message campaigns and robocalls that prey on virus-related fears.

• COVID-19 text scams may falsely advertise a cure or offer bogus tests. Learn more and see examples of scam texts.
• Robocall scams have focused on health and financial concerns connected to COVID-19. Learn more and listen to actual scam audio.
• Coronavirus scammers are targeting older Americans. Get information to share with seniors and their families.

In the News

The U.S. Senate returned to session this week. Earlier today, July 21, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell confirmed that Senate Republicans support sending another round of stimulus checks to Americans.

Two more critical early-phase COVID-19 vaccine studies were published in the Lancet on Monday31604-4/fulltext). One study from the Oxford COVID Vaccine Trial Group used a modified chimpanzee adenovirus with the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein incorporated (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19). This vaccine has already entered its Phase 3 trial. A third vaccine candidate from Pfizer and the German company BioNTech has also shown promising results and will undergo a Phase 3 trial. While these results are promising, it is yet to be shown that any of these vaccines will actually protect against COVID-19. That will require the Phase 3 studies that are now enrolling.

An investigation of bars in East Lansing, Michigan, found that one night of partying led to 187 cases of COVID-19 — 144 in bar attendees and 43 in indirect contacts.

WHO and UNICEF warn of a decline in vaccinations during COVID-19. This is the first time in 28 years that the world could see a reduction in DTP3 (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) coverage – the marker for immunization coverage within and across countries.

The Atlantic: America should prepare for a double pandemic.

STAT: Opioid overdoses have skyrocketed amid the coronavirus, but states are nevertheless slashing addiction treatment program budgets.

A STAT analysis showed that increased testing cannot account for the spike in numbers of cases in 26 out of 33 states from mid-May to mid-July. In New York City, testing was nearly doubled over two months, during which time the city had an 86% drop in cases rather than a spike.

Scientific American: Contact Tracing, a Key Way to Slow COVID-19, Is Badly Underused by the U.S.

Washington Post: What We’ve Learned About How to Catch — or Avoid — COVID-19

National Geographic: Everyone's patience is wearing thin- this article offers some good tips for all of us, but especially parents.

New York Times: gender gap in parenting during this pandemic, and how it impacts women's work hours more than men in these two parent households which were studied.

County Phasing Status

As a refresher, here is the status of all counties in Washington. Their status is all on pause at the phase listed below until at least July 28.

Benton, Chelan, Douglas, Franklin and Yakima are in various versions of a modified Phase 1.

Adams, Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grant, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Klickitat, Okanogan, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, Spokane, Walla Walla and Whatcom are in Phase 2.

Asotin, Columbia, Ferry, Garfield, Grays Harbor, Island, Kittitas, Lewis, Lincoln, Mason, Pacific, Pend Oreille, Skamania, Stevens, Thurston, Wahkiakum and Whitman are in Phase 3.

Face Masks Available

masks

The City has a supply of masks from the County for distribution to the 2000 residents who make 200% or less of the federal poverty line. To get 2 free masks for each member of your household, you do not need to provide any income verification- we just want to get them out to families. You can pick your supply up at the Mukilteo Food Bank during their hours of operation (next times are Monday July 27 at 3pm and Tuesday July 28 at 9am. They are located at 4514 84th St SW, at the Presbyterian Church) or at Serene Lake Elementary as part of the school lunch distribution.

Antibody Testing

Antibody testing is not currently offered at the drive thru and pop-up locations provided by the Health District, as they are focused more on current infections and stopping the spread. In addition, we don't know if antibodies mean you can't be reinfected, or how long they last, so they haven't focused on that. As the State Department of Health says, "This means that the most we can say to a person with antibodies to COVID-19 is that they have been exposed. The science can’t tell us yet if that means people are protected from reinfection."

However, even if it's just curiosity, you can still seek out antibody testing on your own.

Antibody tests are only available when ordered by a healthcare professional. Antibody tests involve traveling to a healthcare facility to get your blood drawn, so an appointment is also required. The best way to look for one is to call your own doctor, healthcare professional, or a local clinic. Here are a couple links with information about what they are offering:
* Everett Clinic
* Lighthouse Natural Medicine (no details on their site, but call them for information about what they offer)
* Providence Harbour Pointe Clinic (same here, contact info to call for what they might offer)

Inspiration and Diversions

It's blueberry season. Berry picking is a good activity that you can do as a household unit and stay distant from others at the same time. Make sure to pack your hand sanitizer to start and end your experience. Mountainview Blueberry Farm has their info here- their open 8am to 5pm Tuesday-Saturday.

The Herald offers some delicious "mocktails" recipes (no alcohol involved) for your next Zoom happy hour or sunny afternoon treat. When there's sun again.

I am not usually too flippant in this section, but laughing is good medicine for difficult times. If you read up above about our trajectory to be like Florida without changing our behavior (masks, social distancing, limiting gatherings), the "Florida Man" meme might have popped into your head. Here is a funny article from 2018 explaining the rampant news stories reporting the actions of "Florida Man." We don't want to be like Florida Man, trust me. Click here if you want a laugh. My favorite: Florida man accused of breaking into alligator farm is attacked by crocodile, leaves Croc shoe behind.

harrypotterSnoisle

In more useful news, Sno-Isle Libraries will be offering Harry Potter themed online programs beginning the week of Monday, July 27. Check out Sno-Isle’s webpage to learn more about their Harry Potter themed online programs, activities, and summer reading lists.

State Guidance

All reopening guidelines can be found here.

Here is the Safe Start Plan for K-12 Schools, and a new guidance document for colleges and universities.

Locally, Everett's Getting to Safe Guide is a great resource. It's now available in Spanish and Russian, as well.

City Information

Lighthouse Park, Edgewater Beach and 92nd Street Park reopened on May 5. Bathrooms are open only at Lighthouse Park 7am-7pm. Playgrounds remain closed until either Phase 3 or when we have full staffing and ability to clean daily.

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. Government services are not slated to reopen until Phase 3 of the new reopening plan, which is mid-June at the earliest.

For more information on city facilities, see this link.

Case Count

Current case count is 84 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases identified in Mukilteo (3 new cases), and 72 individuals who are recovered.

County case counts are available at this link, updated each weekday at 2pm City counts will be updated weekly starting today.

General Resource Links

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.

phase 1 open
phase 2 open
 
   
 
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