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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The weekly snapshot moved to Monday's, and I didn't quite have it before I sent that email out. So, here is the COVID County snapshot for last week, available here. We are 85 cases/100,000, a great step down from the height of 97.8. As the Health District reported, "The slight downward trend in confirmed cases is promising and shows the wearing of face coverings and limiting social contacts by Snohomish County residents is working. To further turn the corner, we need everyone to mask up and limit their in-person social contacts to no more than five people outside your home each week." Their full (23 page) report is here.

The latest statewide situation report came out on Friday. It suggests areas of improvement are likely driven by behavior changes like wearing face coverings and staying six feet apart when away from home.
Report findings include:
 Transmission is likely still increasing in western Washington as of mid-July. The best estimate of the reproductive number (the estimated number of new people each COVID-19 patient will infect) for that region remains above one. The goal is a reproductive number well below one, which would mean the number of people getting COVID-19 is declining.
 Transmission is slowing overall in eastern Washington. This report is the first time the reproductive number for eastern Washington has been confidently estimated below one.
 Some concerning trends continue in both eastern and western Washington, with cases again increasing in people age 40 to 69 and over 70. This is alarming because the risk of hospitalization and death is significantly higher for these age groups.
 Looking at individual counties’ case data reveals additional areas of concern. Overall rises in the Puget Sound area, particularly Pierce County, point to increasing transmission there. In eastern Washington, encouraging declines in Yakima, Benton and Franklin counties are offset by rises in Okanogan, Chelan and Douglas counties.
 Any flattening in new cases appears to be due to changes in behavior like vigilant use of face coverings and keeping physical distance, rather than changes to people’s mobility. Recent changes in transmission rates don’t correlate to trends in cellphone mobility data, which plateaued starting in June. That graph is below, from the report. It uses Google activity data.

Mask myths busted: Yes, they work. No, you won’t suffocate. Here’s what you should know. (Seattle Times)

This is a great article in Think.com about separating science from partisanship. As they put it, "it has been remarkable to see such deep partisan divides about basic medical science."

The Seattle Times presents some analysis on which activities are the most risky and how young people are affected. As they write, "Problems don’t arise so much from specific activities as they do from the circumstances surrounding a given activity."

We are all discouraged from traveling, but you might find a need to travel that cannot be avoided. If you're worried about flying, the Seattle Times suggests some alternatives with tips- for cars, RVs, trains, buses, boats and planes.

NPR: The United States needs as many as 100,000 contact tracers to fight the pandemic, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Congress in June. We need billions of dollars to fund them, public health leaders pleaded in April. Neither of those needs are being met quite yet.

A free curbside grocery distribution is planned for 3-6 p.m. Thursday August 13, at Horizon Elementary School, 222 W. Casino Road, in Everett. The event has multiple sponsors, including Snohomish County, Mukilteo School District and the Communities of Color Coalition.

I flagged the Snohomish County organizations that are in charge of a big bucket of rental assistance available from the State. You can now sign-up here to receive an email notification when the service provider list and applications are available.

Don't forget to renew your tabs- that mailer you get from DOL is a courtesy reminder.

The Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL) usually sends a notification reminding owners to renew their vehicle registration, but in July, the pandemic and a change in process held up thousands of mailed notices and left owners wondering why the notices came weeks later after their tabs officially expired. DOL explained that these notices are courtesy reminders and it is still the responsibility of owners to renew their tabs before it expires.
Owners have different options to renew their tabs: onlineor by mail.
Owners who did not receive a renewal notice in a timely manner may get an estimate online or call DOL at 360-902-3770.

Nearly 300,000 Americans could be dead from COVID-19 by Dec. 1, University of Washington health experts forecast on Thursday, although they said 70,000 lives could be saved if people were scrupulous about wearing masks: Reuters.
This research comes from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine. IHME’s model assumes that states will reimpose a series of mandates, including non-essential business closures and stay-at-home orders, when the daily death rate reaches 8 per million. This threshold is based on data regarding when states and/or communities imposed mandates in March and April, and implies that many states will have to reimpose mandates.
As a result, the model suggests which states will need to reimpose mandates and when:
August – Arizona, Florida, Mississippi, and South Carolina
September – Georgia and Texas
October – Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, and Oregon.
November – Alabama, Arkansas, California, Iowa, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.
However, if mask use is increased to 95%, the re-imposition of stricter mandates could be delayed 6 to 8 weeks on average.

Remember, this is just a model based on assumptions about our behavior. All those variables can change. So, remember to limit gatherings and wear your mask. No one wants businesses to close again, and we all want to get to a time when our kids can go back to school.

Since June 26, most people in Washington, aged 5 and up, have been required to wear face coverings when in public spaces as part of efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus. Exemptions include those with certain medical conditions and children under 2, who should not wear a face covering. Children ages 2 to 4 are encouraged, but not required, to wear a face covering in public with the assistance and supervision of an adult.
The Joint Information Center has prepared a brief video with tips for helping kids be part of the #MaskUpWA effort. The video is here, and tips include: practice wearing it first, have extras in the house to make them a normal part of life, decorate them together, and be a good example!

All guidance can be found here.

Some updates:
Agricultural events: These guidelines apply to livestock and horse exhibitions/shows/sales/auctions, companion animal (dog, cats, rabbits, etc.) shows, or any substantially similar event.
Inslee also released additional FAQ clarification related to indoor fitness guidance. The FAQ expands on guidance released August 3 and is effective today. The updated FAQs clarify guidance for larger indoor fitness and training facilities where adequate social distancing and sanitation protocols can be followed. In all cases, individuals are encouraged to exercise outdoors whenever possible.
Additionally, Inslee issued updated guidance for religious and faith-based services. The guidance, which reduces restrictions for some religious and faith-based services, is effective today.

Lastly, I feel like I've heard about some weddings lately. Wedding ceremonies are limited as of Monday to 30 people outdoors only, physically distanced by six feet, with masks. Receptions are not allowed.

Check out this Crosscut story about "Cooped Up: Drive In Dances for Cooped Up People." Guided by pins on a digital map and a downloaded soundtrack — featuring songs, poetry, a couple of old voicemail messages and mysterious clues — ticketed audience members drive through the city and visit performers at their homes. It sounds cool! The last two events have passed, but it's still an interesting quarantine read.

I have mentioned social dancing before, and this Crosscut article highlights a few dance instructors and programs that have been shut down since March. As one of my favorite instructors says in this article, "Dancing is magical, it's physical, it's one of those things that you do that you can't do anything else while you're doing it. You don't think about anything except for the person that you were dancing with, so it’s pretty special in that way.” At least skim for the photos - fun to see these great dancers.

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.

Current case count is 104 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases identified in Mukilteo (3 new cases), and 75 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.