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.

Make sure to complete the census! 2020census.gov.

More to come... but April 27th will launch two weeks of celebrating Mukilteo spirit, in individual ways at our homes!

There's still time to order from Here and There Grill! Pick up location will now be at Dutton Electric at 12407 Mukilteo Speedway. That's near the Jiffy Lube across the street from Starbucks.

Pre-order by 2:30pm on Friday, and make sure to choose your neighborhood code, MUKILTEO. Menu and link to order online are here: http://www.hereandtheregrill.com/menu/

Our garage sale and large item pick up may be postponed to the fall, but here is information about an option for individual drop offs. You have to head to Sultan, but you can do hand-unloading on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
At all locations:
- Material placed in bags or cans is preferred for quicker unloading.
- No recycling or household hazardous waste allowed at this time.
- Only credit cards are accepted and there are no additional costs.
- Expect long delays.
Please visit the Snohomish County Solid Waste web page for more information at www.snohomishcountywa.gov/solidwaste.

This is for a specific audience, but since the deadline is April 22nd for application, I wanted to share here so you can forward it. National Endowment for the Arts has $50,000 grants available for arts organizations, local arts agencies, arts service organizations, federally recognized tribal communities or tribes, and a wide range of other organizations, including school districts. These grants can pay for salaries, art contracts, rent and utilities.
Information here:
https://www.arts.gov/grants-organizations/CARES/grant-program-description.

Try a tree! From our Climate Action Committee Vice Chair Debbie King, here is a fun link from Icelandic forest rangers who recommend hugging a tree if you can't hug a person. Check out: https://www.icelandreview.com/nature-travel/forest-service-recommends-hugging-trees-while-you-cant-hug-others/

Protections from Wage Garnishment: The Governor issued a new proclamation which suspends statutes that permit collection of consumer debt judgments, including bank account and wage garnishments and waives accrual of post-judgment interest on consumer debt judgments during the period of this order. This order is designed to protect consumer assets, including federal stimulus checks, from consumer debt collections.

Looks like people who had bank account info on file (and perhaps have done 2019 tax filings) have started to receive their $1200 (+/-) payments!

Safe Kids Worldwide has a variety of safety tips, this link has information on keeping kids safe when playing outside and biking: https://www.safekids.org/blog/bike-or-foot-help-kids-prevent-injuries-these-3-safety-tips

As parents navigate parenting, teaching and helping our kids grow, this guide from Harvard University on child developmenthas some good research to help navigate these challenging times.

It’s critical that you take care of yourself and your family’s mental health and well-being. Our state has a new page for resources on this issue.

Workforce Snohomish maintains a list of local companies that are hiring.

In another area, our local ServPro does commercial cleaning and is a great resource as we start thinking about reopening. They have recommendations that anyone can use to deep clean and sanitize, and are able to do the professional cleaning as needed.

If you're taking this time to go for a walk (or multiple walks per day...), think about taking time to pick up trash along the way! The City has an Adopt a Street program that is a good place to check out for tips on cleaning up safely. If you're interested in signing up in the future, the program page is found here.

Earth Day is this month, do your clean up in honor of that celebration!

Democrats in the United States Senate, led in part by Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, have drawn up a road map for how to implement broad COVID-19 testing across the nation. Here is an article about their ideas.

The Herald has an article and update about Frognal Estates, the property near Picnic Point that has been a point of concern for the neighborhood.

What it's like to face down the coronavirus, and win- when you're 96. This is a great story!

Remaining unused tests from the Health District's drive-thru testing site will be donated to long term care homes, Herald coverage is here.

Consider subscribing to newspapers that you appreciate!

Washington’s economy lost 11,100 jobs in March and the state’s preliminary seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment rate for March increased from 3.8 percent to 5.1 percent according to the Employment Security Department (ESD), released in their monthly March report. This does not fully capture the impacts of COVID-19, because most workers would have been counted for this report by March 16 and would likely have still been working.

The national unemployment rate (preliminary) rose from 3.5 percent in February 2020 to 4.4 percent in March 2020. In March 2019, the national unemployment rate (revised) was 3.8 percent.
Employment Security paid unemployment insurance benefits to 185,458 people in March.

Labor force decline is by far the largest month to month decline since 1990
The state’s labor force in March was 3,889,700 – a decrease of 72,800 people from the previous month. In the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett region, the labor force decreased by 31,900 over the same period.

From February 2020 to March 2020, the number of people who were unemployed statewide increased from 151,500 to 197,600. In the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett region, the number of people who were unemployed increased from 44,700 to 93,400 over the same period.

Five industry sectors expanded and eight contracted
Private sector employment decreased by 11,700 while the public sector increased by 600 jobs in March. This month’s report shows the largest private job growth occurred in construction up 2,500 jobs and professional & business services up 1,500 jobs. Also posting increases were information and retail trade, both up 600 jobs. The industries that posted the highest losses were leisure and hospitality down 12,300 jobs, financial activities down 1,500 jobs and, manufacturing down 1,400 jobs. Also posting losses were other services down 700 jobs, wholesale trade down 500 jobs, transportation, warehousing & utilities down 300 jobs and mining & logging and education & health services both down 100 jobs.

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 49 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases identified in Mukilteo, with no deaths amongst those cases. County case counts are available at this link, updated each weekday at 2pm.

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.