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.

SPIRIT WEEK starts tomorrow, Monday! Find your purple, post photos to social media, put a purple sign in your window. Those of you on this list not from Mukilteo, wear the colors of your local school!

Our Mukiltean of April 26, 2020 is Mary Jo Lynch, the office manager at The Everett Clinic at Harbour Pointe. She has been working 7 days a week, very long hours to guide the clinic and team through the COVID crisis. She works 12 plus hour days and has been on top of schedules, converting the clinic to a “COVID Clinic” and back to a non-COVID clinic to keep patients and staff safe. She has worked tirelessly to obtain and coordinate our PPE, coordinate schedules for the physicians and the staff and has kept up to date with the daily operating recommendations.

Wash your hands and grab that mask when you leave the house, in honor of Mary Jo Lynch!

Do you know someone who deserves to be the Mukiltean of the Day? Nominate them!

Upon request, I've updated the senior/at risk hours for stores!

Special Shopping Hours for Seniors, Other At-Risk People
A number of local grocery stores have special shopping hours for senior citizens and others with vulnerable immune systems.
QFC: No special hours, normal operations for all customers 8am-8am every day. They do have one-way aisles, cart cleaning and protections at check-out.
These stores have special hours for those over 60 and in at-risk populations:
Safeway: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 7am-9am
Target: Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 7am-8am
Whole Foods: every day, 8am-9am.

I would also encourage off times for shopping, when the store is less full. It seems like mid-day and later in the evening are less busy.

Some well-known Pike Place vendors will be delivering to Mukilteo on May 4! Visit this site to place your order from Piroshky Piroshky, New Garden Flowers, Pike Place Fish, and Pike Place Chowder. $50 minimum order is required.

After my advice on how to get ready to reopen, I decided to also track down some old and some new links for financial assistance. Businesses might be thinking about a possible May/June reopening, but that doesn't help with this month's overhead. I was motivated to do this after receiving an email communicating the desperation that any small business owner feels facing payroll in this times. Since the Paycheck Protection Program has been such a flop for most, and the Working Washington grant deadlines have passed, here are other resources:

https://www.sba.gov/disaster-assistance/coronavirus-covid-19#/(economic injury loan through the SBA)

https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/sba-debt-relief

https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/sba-express-bridge-loans

https://dor.wa.gov/about/business-relief-during-covid-19-pandemic for state tax relief

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/faqs-employee-retention-credit-under-the-cares-act. This is a tax credit up to $10k per employee, and you can ask for an advance, apparently. I’m not sure how it works, but the link has more information.

You may also be able to apply for unemployment, either as a self-employed person or as employee of your corporation.

The Snohomish Music Project is now able to provide music therapy services during the COVID-19 pandemic at no cost.

Trauma, loss or mental health challenges can make it difficult to connect with others and cope with the challenges and uncertainties of life. The current state of national emergency can add to this by increasing anxiety and feelings of isolation and restricting access to social support. Due to generous funding from a county grant, Snohomish County Music Project is able to offer remote music therapy sessions through video chat at no cost to you during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learn about Mukilteo's lumber industry past on the Mukilteo Beacon.

The Milwaukee Rep theatre has online performances and other entertainment options!

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 52 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases identified in Mukilteo, with no deaths amongst those cases (that's one new one, it's been the same for several days). County case counts are available at this link, updated each weekday at 2pm.

If our ratio of recovery is the same as the County, approximately 33 of those cases should be recovered.

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.