 | Here is your Mayor's update, some COVID-19 information, some other useful information! Please forward as widely as you would like.
I want to hear from you, contact me anytime. If you're reading this because it was forwarded to you, or you saw it on Facebook and would like to receive it yourself, email here to subscribe | From my meetings this week, the current sense is that we won't have a vaccine until early 2021, for the first tier of healthcare and first responders, with other distribution to follow that. Please, wear a cloth face cover or mask in public or in shared spaces. Face covers aren’t always comfortable for everyone, and some people have medical or other reasons they can’t wear one. But the vast majority of us can mask up, and we need to. It makes a big difference in protecting those around us. When we all wear them, we protect each other. ShowYouCare by masking up. |  State Dashboard | | State launches site to encourage safer gatherings The state has launched a new Safe Gatherings webpage that offers ideas on different ways to celebrate, tips for safer gatherings, and ideas for talking with friends and family about establishing and following ground rules for gatherings this fall and winter. Community Resource Fair Oct. 16-17 in Lynnwood and Everett A Drive-Thru Community Resource Fair is scheduled Friday and Saturday at locations in Lynnwood and Everett.
Get information on important community resources available such as rental assistance programs, voter registration, financial aid, and other COVID-related information. | Washington added 2,400 jobs in September amid deep losses Washington’s economy added 2,400 jobs in September and the state’s preliminary seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment rate for September decreased from 8.4 % (adjusted) to 7.8%, according to the Employment Security Department.
Largely linked to the COVID-19 crisis, Washington lost an estimated 203,900 jobs from September 2019 through September 2020, not seasonally adjusted. Private sector employment fell by 6.1 percent, down an estimated 179,100 jobs, while public sector employment fell by 4.3 percent with a net loss of 24,800 jobs.
The three industry sectors with the largest employment losses year-over-year, not seasonally adjusted, were:
• Leisure and hospitality down 90,100 jobs
• Manufacturing down 27,100 jobs
• Government down 24,800 jobs COVID cases rising across all age groups on state’s west side The State Department of Health on Wednesday released the latest statewide situation report on COVID-19 transmission. Report findings include:
• Transmission is increasing in western Washington and recently plateauing in eastern Washington. The best estimates of the reproductive number (how many new people each COVID-19 patient will infect) were 1.12 in western Washington and 0.94 in eastern Washington as of September 27.
• Case counts in western Washington are increasing across all age groups and over broad geographic areas. This suggests increases are due to broad community spread, not driven by a single type of activity or setting. Though all age groups are seeing increases, the rising trends among older people are particularly concerning because these groups tend to experience more severe illness.
• Recent growth in cases is widely distributed across a number of counties. Some larger counties, including Snohomish and King, are seeing steady increases. Several smaller counties, including Skagit, are experiencing increases, though the total number of recent cases remains low. Schools Update As you probably have heard, Mukilteo Schools delayed the start of in-person kindergarten and 1st grade. Related to that, here is some Health District information about how parents and schools can respond in the event of a case diagnosis at school. Other News
How to talk to your family about COVID-19, politics and other thorny subjects – The Seattle Times | A reminder that our general election is coming up on November 3! Be a Snohomish County Super Voter and earn some great social media badges for participating (if you can't get your I Voted sticker, this is the next best thing)! Here are some important upcoming dates:
• Voter pamphlets were mailed October 3-10, and ballots are being mailed today, Thursday, October 15!
• If you have not received your ballot by October 21, please contact the Snohomish County Elections Office at 425-388-3444 for assistance.
• October 26 is the last day to register to vote or update voter information online or by mail.
• Here are voter registration forms in a number of different languages.
• Here is a link with accessible voting information for voters needing reasonable accommodations or assistance.
• November 3 is the last day to register to vote in-person, or update your voter information in-person.
• Election day is November 3 and all ballots must either be postmarked by November 3, or in a county drop box by 8pm. Our closest drop box is at the Mukilteo Library. | Pfizer/BioNTech get approval to test their Covid-19 vaccine in kids as young as 12 Pfizer and BioNTech, which are currently the frontrunners among Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers, announced yesterday they have received FDA approval to vaccinate teens down to the age of 12. The approval may help fill a gaping hole in the data being generated to see if Covid-19 vaccines are safe, as there are almost no efforts to date to test the vaccine in children and most other vaccine trials are not enrolling those under the age of 18. Other vaccine studies on hold Johnson & Johnson placed an enrollment hold on their Phase 3 clinical trial after one subject developed an undisclosed illness of sufficient severity to justify a temporary halt. The specific condition has not yet been revealed to the public. Two of the five major United States vaccine trials, from Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, have been placed on hold. The AstraZeneca hold has persisted for several weeks in the United States, reportedly in response to a case of transverse myelitis in one of the trial participants. Additional COVID news The NIH updated its page on the therapeutic management of patients with COVID-19. How to talk to your kids about COVID-19 – Mayo Clinic An article in the Lancet30764-7/fulltext) described an investigation of two instances of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the same individual, suggesting that previous exposure to COVID-19 may not guarantee protective immunity. This is the second known case of reinfection. New York Times: ‘We Are Losing Parts of Our Culture’: Virus Tears Through Choctaw Community An evaluation of COVID-19 mortality and the excess all-cause mortality rates in the United States and 18 other countries found that after peak mortality in the spring, the United States had higher rates of both COVID-19 and all-cause mortality than other countries, including those with high COVID-19 mortality rates. The researchers note that the United States’ population was younger but had more comorbidities than the comparison countries. Science: Sweden's Gamble How tech helped in the fight against the 1918 flu - Crosscut (radios, telephones and dishwasher tech!) Seven looming questions about the rollout of a Covid-19 vaccine – Stat News The US birth rate hit another record low in 2019. Experts fear we're facing a 'demographic time bomb' that could be fast-tracked by the pandemic. - Insider. The "demographic time bomb" is when there aren't enough young people to support an aging population and the economy. | Presidential News Tonight, instead of the second presidential debate, President Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will appear in competing town hall events, both set to air at 8 p.m. ET. Biden's event, which has been on the books for the past week, is being hosted by ABC News, while Trump's event — announced yesterday — will be aired by NBC. Nearly a third of millennials have at least one mental health condition Behavioral health conditions are on the rise among millennials, according to a new report from Blue Cross Blue Shield, and nearly a third of this group has at least one such condition. Here's more:
Conditions: Since 2014, there have been double-digit increases in mental health conditions including depression, psychoses, and ADHD. More millennials are receiving treatment for opioid use disorder than other generations.
Racial disparities: Black and Hispanic millennials were less likely than their white peers to be diagnosed with mental health conditions, which could be attributed to underdiagnosis and lack of access to care rather than lower occurrence. There's a 64% difference in ADHD diagnosis rates between Hispanic and white individuals, for instance, and a 31% difference in depression diagnosis rates between Black and white millennials.
Covid-19's impact: An overwhelming majority have reported negative mental health effects from the pandemic, with a 34% increase in alcohol consumption and 16% increase in non-medical drug use. | All guidance can be found here. Gov. Jay Inslee announced the extensions of the eviction moratorium and public utility proclamations as COVID-19 continues to impact the finances of Washingtonians statewide. This clarified that tenant behavior which is imminently hazardous to the physical safety of other persons on the premises is included among the existing permissible reasons for seeking to evict a tenant. Landlords can issue advance notices of future rent increases starting after 12/31/20. The utility proclamation prevents energy, water and landline telephone companies from disconnects due to nonpayment on an active account, and charging late fees. King County guidance on what to do when an employee is diagnosed with COVID-19. Getting to Safe Toolkit for Businesses | CNN reports on Greg Dailey of New Jersey, who owned a frame shop that was forced to close due to COVID-19. For the past 25 years, he has also held down a second job, delivering newspapers every morning. When one of his customers - most of them are senior citizens - asked him to put the paper closer to her door, he realized the request was due to the pandemic, and wondered how she was getting groceries. He asked her if she needed help, and that with inquiry, Dailey began a full-time, absolutely free, delivery service for senior citizens on his route. For the last six months, Dailey – with the help of his family and now, a team of volunteers - has made over 1,000 trips to grocery stores and other stores.
According to CNN, “Responses flooded in and word soon spread beyond the customers on his route… His 24-year-old daughter, Erin, became his partner in the effort. They developed a system to keep track of the orders, which average between five to 10 a day. People are asked to fill out a spreadsheet with their contact information, any discount codes they have at various stores, as well as a detailed shopping list.”
Dailey has since reopened his frame shop, his family is taking on a larger role in the delivery effort, and they now have the help of several volunteers, mostly college students. | Lighthouse Park, Edgewater Beach and 92nd Street Park reopened on May 5. Bathrooms are open only at Lighthouse Park 7am-7pm. Playgrounds are now open, with warnings about cleaning schedules and advise to use at your own risk posted. Trails and sidewalks continue to be open for your physical activity! Please respect physical distance of six feet, and put your face covering on as you pass others. 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 154 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases identified in Mukilteo (6 new cases), and 126 individuals who are recovered. County and city case counts are available at this link, updated each weekday at 2pm. | | |
