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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!

The state website shows the guidance for businesses, and the full Safe Start report has details on what phase 2 means.

....but when is phase 3?! Check out the section below on some more information.
Wear your mask, pack hand sanitizer- let's all do our part to get there.

King County is now in Phase 2, with additional information here. Island County is in Phase 3.

If you are a business owner wondering which category you fit, you can ask the State via this online form.

Here is a new (easier to read) summary of what's open and what's not on the state site. The phase 1 and 2 graphics are at the bottom of this email.

Outbreak Impacts Ferries

You might have already seen this link, but the Mukilteo/Clinton ferry has had an outbreak with several employees in non-customer facing areas becoming diagnosed with COVID. Herald coverage here. The City of Everett also has 13 firefighters at home awaiting testing after a coworker was diagnosed with COVID-19, as well as 3 others at home due to other exposure. Our department takes this as one more serious reminder of staying safe both at work and at home.

Local News

Feeling confused about all the data out there? The Seattle Times provided some tips on interpreting information.

I've mentioned how contact tracing is important (both to stop the spread and to meet our metrics for reopening safely). There are two times when the Health District might call you. One, if you have been diagnosed, they call to get a report on your health and recovery. Two, if you have been in close contact with someone who is diagnosed, they call you to inform you to seek testing. Those calls may show up as a Health District phone number, but they also might not, if they are working from home. They do leave messages with instructions on what number to call- so just be sure to listen to your voicemails!

The Cities of Everett and Lynnwood have a new grant to support a social worker to work alongside police officers and support them on calls with individuals who have other needs. The Herald describes it here. Our City tried out a successful trial with the Health District to do the same. We have had a Health District social worker paired for just 10 hours a month, but it has allowed our officers to have a contact point to do follow up and connect people with resources.

The State released more CARES funding, this time focused on:
 $100 million to provide rent assistance to low-income renters at risk of homelessness, using an existing framework to send rent payments directly to landlords.
 $20 million to provide grants to help small businesses, support for local economic development organizations providing assistance to businesses, and support for data-driven recovery plans by region and industry.
 $20 million to provide operating grants to support nonprofits working to address disparities and inequities exacerbated by increased need and decreased funding due to COVID-19, including a variety of community and youth development programs.
 $20 million to assist Tribes with their pandemic recovery related efforts.
This money goes to the Dept of Commerce to disburse, when I hear about ways to apply, I will let you know!

Health District Update on Phases

The Snohomish Health District (SHD) published a new blog post discussing why Snohomish County is not currently in a position to apply for Phase 3, indicating that there are specific metrics the county must meet first. These include case rate per 100,000 residents, case investigation and contact tracing, and testing. As of the last two-week reporting period for this data (June 2 to 16), we are not meeting several of those metrics.
While our case rate was below the limit of 25 per 100,000 for a few weeks, we have recently seen an increase. For the period of June 2 to 16, the rate went up from about 22 per 100,000 to 23.6 per 100,000. If we look at June 13 to 27, we’re at 39.
• Testing levels should be 50 tests per confirmed case. We’re at 37 tests per case.
• The goal is to contact 90% of positive cases within 24 hours of receiving a positive COVID-19 test results. We are at 43% in the June 2-16 report.
• As for the percentage of cases responding to daily monitoring, the target is 80% and we’re at 68%.

County Executive on Phases

The County Executive released this statement on the phasing. Short story is don't get too worried about headlines and rolling back to Phase 1.

“I support the phased re-opening of Snohomish County. Within each phase, we must review and measure our ability to move safely to the next. Though we aren’t ready to move into Phase 3 because of our increased case numbers, I want to make clear I have no intention of recommending Snohomish County move back to Phase 1 at this time. The only reason I would even consider it at some point in the future would be if we saw a significant, sustained outbreak that threatened to overwhelm our health care system or a significant, sustained spike in deaths. We are very far from either of those scenarios right now. We are seeing a concerning rise in the number of cases, but it is not negatively impacting our death rates or our hospital capacity. We will continue to monitor the number of cases and work to bring the rate back down. If people continue both to practice effective social distancing and to wear masks when in public, we will continue to progress to the next phase.
“I know how hard the pandemic has impacted all of us, our families and friends, our jobs and our businesses. It has touched every part of our community. We will continue to balance keeping our economy as open as possible while also keeping our residents safe. I appreciate the hard work everyone has done in Snohomish County to stay healthy and practice good social distancing. We need to keep it up and not get complacent this weekend.”

Stay Local this Summer

The Washington State Department of Health is encouraging people in our state to limit summer travel plans to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
Phases 2 and 3 allow more travel than Phase 1, but that’s not a green light for everyone to travel as much as they want.
“We still want people to limit their travel,” says State Health Officer Dr. Kathy Lofy. “We have places in Washington with a lot of COVID-19 activity. If there’s a lot of cross-state travel this summer, that could spread disease around the state.” She says it’s understandable that people are ready to get out and enjoy the good weather, “But Public Health is requesting that if they do travel, that they stay closer to home. If people want to travel and it’s allowed based on their phase, we don’t want people traveling across the state. Stay local.

Remember, Fireworks Are Banned in Mukilteo

fireworks

In the News

The Johns Hopkins University timeline shows the major infection control measures and re-openings undertaken by states after the first COVID-19 cases appeared in the United States, alongside the number of new cases and deaths in each state over the same time period. It takes a second to follow what's being shown, but it's fascinating once you grasp it. You can check it out here.

Dr. Anthony Fauci and other top federal public health experts testified to the Senate on June 30 to update elected officials on the COVID-19 response. Dr. Fauci, a member of the Country’s Coronavirus Taskforce, warned that the U.S. could see 100,000 new COVID-19 cases a day. You can find the testimony on the New York Times site, here- it might be on CSPAN, too!

The European Union will open its borders to visitors from 15 countries. The United States is not on the list, but Canada is. More information here. Each country implements the rule on their own (with their own processes), and it is supposed to be reviewed every two weeks.

The CDC says "The risk of getting COVID-19 from food, treated drinking water, or food packaging is very low." They have many more details in a post here.

Give Blood If You Can

Bloodworks Northwest is bracing for a severe summer blood shortage that could limit local trauma centers access to blood. So they’re ramping up their appeal for blood donations of all blood types. Anyone who donates between now and July 11 will get a $20 grocery gift card. Information here.

There is no inherent risk of getting coronavirus from the donation procedure itself, but Bloodworks follows all CDC and local health guidelines and is taking extra precautions to protect staff and donors, including requiring donation appointments, continuous sanitation, prohibiting guests, and asking donors to bring a mask/face covering to their donation.

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.

Inspiration and Diversions

Crabbing season opens today and is a great way to get outside. The Herald covers some tips (and talks about the negative tides we should have this weekend- if you're not into crabbing, get out to the beach! It's a safe way to get outside your house right now. Wear a mask).

A new billboard in New York's Times Square highlights some adorable young kids artwork! From the GoodNewsNetwork.

kidart

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 75 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases identified in Mukilteo (four new cases), with no deaths amongst those cases, and 71 individuals who are recovered (4 new recoveries).

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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