 | 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 me here to subscribe. | Two big changes yesterday from the State. One is a statewide prohibition on all live entertainment, indoor or outdoor. This includes drive-in concerts, comedy clubs and music in restaurants. The other relates to Phase 3 (but is relevant for planning for the future). In phase 3, instead of allowing social gatherings up to 50, those events will have to be limited to 10 people.
From the Governor's blog site on medium.com
These restrictions apply only to social gatherings, not business operations operating legally under the Safe Start guidance. Funerals, weddings and religious activities are exempt from today’s restrictions.
Some gatherings that may be limited by this change include:
Book clubs
Barbecues
Picnics
Parties (birthday parties, house parties, cocktail parties, etc.)
Baby showers
Social clubs
Garage and estate sales
Gatherings on beaches and in parks Check out this Health District video and quiz your kids (or yourself) on who the trash panda should hang out with this weekend (spoiler alert, it's not the caravan of camels). The latest statewide situation report highlights concerning COVID-19 trends in Snohomish County and elsewhere around Puget Sound, in Spokane County, north-central counties and southwest counties. The reproductive number—the estimated number of new people each COVID-19 patient will infect—is still above one in both eastern and western Washington, meaning the number of cases is still increasing. The report also estimates the percentage of the population actively infected with COVID-19 in Snohomish King and Pierce counties, Spokane County and Yakima County. In the Puget Sound area, the percentage of the population with COVID-19 has reached levels comparable to those seen in late March and is increasing. In Spokane County, estimates of this percentage are also rapidly increasing. The estimates for Yakima County are improving compared to previous calculations, but the situation remains concerning. | Wear your mask, pack hand sanitizer- let's all do our part to get through this. Here is an 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. | Our YMCA and Boys and Girls Club continue to offer childcare. The YMCA recently began offering lapswim- it's appointment only, and open from in the mornings and mid-day all week long, plus on Saturday mornings. You can sign up through their member app, by calling (their info here), or by dropping in. They also offer private swim lessons. Washington Listens helps people manage stress and anxiety they may be experiencing because of COVID-19. If you or anyone you know is having difficulties managing stress, call the Washington Listens support line at 1-833-681-0211. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. TTY and language access services are available by using 7-1-1 or their preferred method. Resources and self-help tips are available on walistens.org. Because of COVID-19, children who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals at school will get extra food benefits. P-EBT is a new and temporary food benefit to help families buy groceries because schools were closed.
The program is open to any family with a child in grades K-12 who is eligible for free or reduced-price school meals — including children who go to a school where meals are free for all students.
P-EBT is for all students regardless of citizenship or immigration status. The only requirement is a child must be eligible for free or reduced-price school meals. Applications must be submitted by August 31. Call 877-501-2233 or visit WashingtonConnection.org to apply. Unless Congress acts to extend or adjust it, the additional $600 per week in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Program (FPUC) benefits, available under the federal CARES Act, will stop after the week ending Saturday, ,July 25, 2020. FPUC is entirely federally funded and available only at federal discretion. | If you have ever visited the Boys and Girls Club, you know Chuck Davis. Their longtime director, he just retired this fall- but that doesn't mean he has stopped supporting the Club. He has a birthday fundraiser on Facebook, with some great messages about kids he remembers from his years of service. As he said, "Keeping the club open for our community’s children takes bravery on the part of the staff of the Mukilteo Boys and Girls Club, it takes heart, and it takes funds." Consider supporting his fundraiser if you are able! Imagine Children Museum is providing great providing virtual Museum at home playful learning programs. Bees & Botany, Toddler Time, Virtual Family Trivia Night, Girls Scouts Badge Workshops, Preschool Explorers, Sensory Adventures, Summer Camps, Science Sleuths and YouTube videos.
They are also in the midst of a virtual fundraiser, which is a way to support all this great value that the provide our community (and the region). Check out their online auction here, and do some shopping this weekend if you can! | The Mukilteo Schools released a message on Wednesday to their families, but I know some of us are curious and don't have kids in their schools! Here is a link to the message, and a few highlights below. There are a number of state guidelines and challenges they have to meet in order to open up safely. Superintendent Brynelson shared, we are "preparing to provide a robust alternative learning experience for students both inside and outside the physical classroom setting in the event we cannot meet the DOH guidelines. Right now, we are planning for in-school instruction for elementary students and a hybrid instruction model of in-person and distance learning for middle and high school students. We are also upgrading the distance learning model in the event a school or the district may need to close again. Our goal is to make a final decision by July 24." | And, some context: A new report suggests that reopening schools without engaging multiple preventative measures may lead to a significant increase in COVID-19 cases. The Washington State Department of Health, Public Health – Seattle & King County and Institute for Disease Modeling worked together and used data to simulate different scenarios and strategies for reopening schools. The analysis, released Wednesday, focused on King County schools but has implications across the state. It found that without taking countermeasures, the number of new COVID-19 cases there could double over the three-month period between Sept. 1 and Dec. 1. | On July 12, Florida broke the record for most new cases in one day with 15,300, with previous highs of 11,694 in California the week before and 11,571 in New York on April 15. Our high point in Washington was July 13, with 1336. The high point before that was on May 1st with 834. There is mounting evidence that masks work more than we thought before, and can protect ourselves and not just others. (LA Times) This is a very interesting tool about your risk of contracting COVID if you attend an event. As they describe, the risk level is the estimated chance (0-100%) that at least 1 COVID-19 positive individual will be present at an event in a county, given the size of the event. It comes from Georgia Tech University. You can check it out here. A couple stats for Snohomish County: 98% chance at an event of 500 (duh, those aren't allowed, and don't go); an event of 25- 17%. It only goes down to 10 (which is not allowed yet, remember we are limited to 5 people in a gathering per week), and 10 is a 7% risk that someone there has COVID-19. How risky is it to use a public restroom right now? The Minnesota Star Tribune covered this issue. One doctor's tip was to use wipes (or paper towels) for each piece you touch- door, flush handle on toilet, sink- to use a ventilation fan if there is one, and to wear a mask, of course. University of Washington magazine profiles the man who helped eradicate small pox. A study from Johns Hopkins found that Vietnam successfully kept its cases below 400 , with no deaths, through a combination of preparedness; an early and aggressive response; testing, contact tracing, and quarantine; and communication and mobilization. Washington Post opinion article: six reasons to feel optimistic right now!
1. Therapeutic treatments will arrive before vaccines.
2. Rapid, low-cost saliva tests are also coming.
3. Masks work, and more and more people are wearing them.
4. Consensus has finally emerged that airborne spread is happening (that's good because it will help guide us to a new tool to fight the virus- ventilation).
5. There is some science showing that past exposure to common-cold coronaviruses might be playing a protective role for some people.
6. Vaccine trials seem to be working. It's not just Governors and Mayors requiring masks now. Kroger (aka QFC, Fred Meyers, etc), Walmart, Starbucks, Target (starting August 1), Best Buy, Apple, and (since May 4th!) Costco have all enacted policies requiring customers to wear masks (along with that old shirt and shoes thing). A national group the Business Roundtablegroup of CEOs is also calling on other businesses to adopt face covering policies. | A partnership with the Town of Darrington, the County and Forterra just received a big chunk of funding. It is a very cool project. They will develop the Darrington Wood Innovation Center, a campus that will house and attract new wood fiber-based innovation and manufacturing companies. The Center will include companies building or manufacturing mass timber, cross laminated timber (CLT) and modular housing.
This project stems from their efforts to reinvigorate the local economy after the 2014 SR 530 mudslide. I think that's important to remember, because it shows economic recovery from a crisis (like this one) is a long term effort, stretching into the years ahead. The Joint Information Center on Wednesday published a brief social media video that aims to explain R0 – or R-naught – the average number of people likely to be infected by a single positive case of a disease such as COVID-19. Wearing face covers, limiting travel, practicing social distancing and keeping gatherings small are all strategies that can limit the spread of infection. The R0 goal is to get a number less than 1. Snohomish County now has a R0 of 1.59 for COVID-19. As with many other transportation modes, 2020 is proving to be a challenging year for Amtrak Cascades service. The spread of COVID-19 led to large drops in ridership, Canadian border closures, new safety and distancing protocols to protect passengers and staff and significant decreases in revenue. Their blogtalks about their efforts to respond to that. | This article from The New York Times Magazine discusses the chronic underfunding of public health around our country. We are not immune here in Washington- the same thing as happened in our state and our county. The Director of Harris County Public Health in Texas, which is profiled, put it well: "Shah likes to think of his fellow public-health practitioners as the offensive line of a football team whose fans know only the quarterback: clinical medicine. Except that when a football team has a great season, the owners continue to invest in the offensive line, recognizing that it is crucial to the quarterback’s success. “In public health we do the opposite,” he told me recently. “When tuberculosis rates decline or tobacco use goes down, we cut those programs.”" | One of the few positive things to come from this pandemic has been hearing stories of amazing ingenuity. According to the BBC:
“Stephen Wamukota managed to construct his little sanitary station using just a bucket, a few pieces of wood, and some basic tools. Since the sink’s mechanism is triggered by foot pedals at the base of the station, people can wash their hands without being forced to touch its surface and risk contracting the virus.
Stephen’s father James praised the project in an interview with BBC, saying: “I had bought some pieces of wood to make a window frame, but I when I came back home after work one day, I found that Stephen had made the machine. The concept was his, and I helped tighten the machine. I’m very proud.” An article on 4 ways to feel good on a hard day locked up at home. My favorite tip is to limit passive scrolling on social media. Social media can be good to post positive or fun things or feel connected when you were feeling down and just need some positive feedback. But, studies have shown passive scrolling and just reading updates is linked to feelings of anxiety and other negative feelings. | 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. | 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 81 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases identified in Mukilteo, with no deaths amongst those 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. | | |
