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Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers, Health Officer Dr. Chris Spitters, and Dr. George Diaz with Providence Regional Medical Center Everett joined us this morning to provide updates on the response to COVID-19.
Topics included the extension of federal funding for the ongoing COVID response and the roll-out of the first COVID vaccine doses in Snohomish County.
“We believe that the vaccine is safe and we encourage the entire public to receive it once it’s available,” said Dr. Diaz, who was among the first healthcare providers in the county to be vaccinated. “Since we started our vaccination program here in Everett on Saturday, we’ve already vaccinated roughly 2,000 of our caregivers.”
Executive Somers thanked the congressional delegation for working to extend federal funding for the COVID-19 response into 2021.
“Critically, it will give the county and health district the opportunity to spend current CARES Act funding until the end of 2021,” Somers said. “We knew this was a possibility and had contingency plans in place. So I have proposed to the County Council a plan to shift some of our remaining funding to ensure we are covering our most essential and important needs at the start of next year.”
Watch: https://youtu.be/psarL8HzYyY
Or read the transcript: https://www.snohd.org/DocumentCenter/View/6054
 Dr. George Diaz, Section Chief, Infectious Diseases receives his COVID-19 vaccine from Omar Jome, RN at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett on Dec. 18, 2020.
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For the first time since early-September, the rolling two-week case rate in Snohomish County decreased, from 444 to 427 per 100,000 residents. Coupled with the arrival of the first COVID-19 vaccines in the county these are promising signs.
“For that trend to continue moving in the right direction, we really need all of our residents and businesses to keep those important public health measures up during the holidays,” said Dr. Chris Spitters, Health Officer for the Snohomish Health District. “As hard as it is, avoiding indoor gatherings, wearing face masks and keeping six feet apart from those we don’t live with are the key to easing restrictions in the new year.”
While the two-week case rate decreased, Snohomish County is still in a very precarious position:
- Long-term care facilities continue to lead to 50-60 new cases weekly. There are ongoing outbreaks in 16 of the 17 skilled nursing facilities, 19 assisted living and 23 adult family homes. These outbreaks account for around 750 cases over the past two months.
- The COVID hospital census—the number of people hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19—has been holding steady at 90-100 people daily. These COVID cases represent more than 15 percent of total hospital capacity in the county, with the goal being under 10 percent. On any given day, there are 12-15 individuals requiring mechanical ventilation due to respiratory failure.
- Snohomish County has been averaging 24 deaths per week this month. This is up from 1-2 per week in August and September.
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To commemorate the first vaccines, the Health District and Snohomish County released a short video. They are coming at a critical time for the healthcare system, first responders, and all of the long-term care facilities.
The first 3,900 doses of the Pfizer vaccine were delivered to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett (PRMCE). Given the temporary re-allocation of the Pfizer vaccine, there aren’t any shipments of Pfizer expected in Snohomish County this week. The Health District does anticipate the first 17,200 doses of the Moderna vaccine being delivered locally this week. These will all be prioritized to high-risk employees in healthcare settings, with high-risk first responders soon to follow.
Employees and residents at long-term care and similar adult care settings will also begin to receive vaccines through federal partnerships established with Walgreens and CVS in the coming weeks. Walgreens and CVS will be reaching out directly to those facilities to coordinate the process.
Frequently asked questions and updates will continue to be posted at www.snohd.org/covidvaccine. Vaccinated or not, community members need to keep their guard up until vaccine coverage is high and COVID rates are down.
See the full press release for more on information, including recommendations for schools, changes in data reporting frequency and the holiday schedule.
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Updated guidance on how long public health officials should quarantine contacts who have been exposed to COVID-19 was recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and adopted by the Washington State Department of Health (DOH). The key thing to remember is that 14 days is still the recommended and safest timeline for close contacts to remain quarantined. The updated guidance allows for some flexibility, and there has been confusion about the timelines.
See the blog post for more: http://www.snohd.org/Blog.aspx?IID=49#item
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The unemployment rate in Snohomish County was 4.8% in November, down from 5.2% the month before, the state Employment Security Department reported Tuesday.
The county saw the unemployment rate reach 19.2% in April after the economy slowed due to the pandemic. The November unemployment rate was well within the range of what has been typical in the county during that month, year in and year out, data show.
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Gov. Jay Inslee on Monday issued a 14-day quarantine requirement for anyone returning to Washington state after visiting the United Kingdom, South Africa and other countries where a new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, 501Y.V, has been circulating. He announced the requirement during a televised press conference.
Health experts believe this new variant may be more transmissible than other variants. The order applies to anyone who has been present in these countries within the prior 14 days. An individual is permitted to leave quarantine to perform certain essential activities (for example, seek medical treatment), provided that they avoid public transportation and ride-share services, wear a facial covering, separate themselves from other people to the greatest extent reasonably possible, and follow other appropriate social distancing measures. All individuals who are impacted by this order are strongly encouraged to be tested within seven days of returning to Washington.
The full proclamation is available here.
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Gov. Jay Inslee has updated Proclamation 20-25 and related guidance for houses of worship, weddings, and funerals. Currently, houses of worship are permitted to hold indoor services with up to 25% room capacity or 200 people, whichever is fewer.
The 200 person maximum attendance cap is being removed in response to the December 15, 2020 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley v. Sisolak, which struck down Nevada’s 50-person attendance caps, interpreting the Supreme Court’s decision in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo to represent a ‘seismic shift in Free Exercise law.’
Because the Governor believes the attendance cap will help save lives, he is converting the required 200-person cap to a recommended cap. The Governor recognizes and respects that it is the role of the courts to say what the law is. The Governor does not intend to re-impose mandatory numerical caps specific to religious services unless the Ninth Circuit or the Supreme Court clarifies the state of the law. Other minor modifications are made to align the guidance documents and the proclamation related to music and singing.
The religious and faith based organization guidance is available here.
The wedding and funeral guidance is available here.
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Washington State Department of Financial Institutions is urging homeowners to make sure they understand their forbearance and other foreclosure prevention options prior to expiration.
If you need help understanding the language used in your mortgage documents, the Washington Homeownership Resource Center offers resources to help you do that at http://www.homeownership-wa.org/managing-your-mortgage.
Homeowners impacted by COVID-19 who have Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgages have until Feb. 28, 2021 to request an initial forbearance (FHA Extends Options for Single Family Borrowers Financially Impacted by COVID-19 | HUD.gov / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)). The federal eviction and foreclosure moratorium also is extended until Feb. 28, 2021.
It’s important for homeowners to understand forbearance is not forgiveness; the missed payments must be paid at some point in time. If you obtained a 180-day forbearance under the CARES Act, make sure you know when it ends, if you are eligible for a second 180-day forbearance, and what your repayment plan is. There are many repayment options available to homeowners, depending on who your lender/servicer is, what type of loan you have and what your income situation is. It’s imperative homeowners know if their missed mortgage payments will be added to the end of your loan, dispersed among future payments or be required as a lump sum once payments resume. If you are not able to resume payments at the time your forbearance ends, you still may be able to enter into a loan modification with your mortgage servicer, but you should start those discussions before your forbearance period ends.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) created a video to help homeowners understand more about forbearances: https://youtu.be/M9aRKYvSe-Q. The CFPB web site and DFI’s web site provide additional information on foreclosure prevention options available to homeowners.
“Regardless of what relief the federal agencies do or don’t provide for homeowners, it is our hope that our licensees will continue to work with Washington homeowners - as they have throughout this pandemic – to avoid foreclosures,” DFI Director Charlie Clark said. “While vaccinations are being rolled out, we still are several months away from many Washington residents being able to get back on their feet financially, and it’s more important than ever that we keep Washington residents in their homes if at all possible.”
Homeowners with concerns about their ability to make their payments after their forbearance, facing foreclosure when the federal and state moratoriums expire or having difficulty reaching their servicer should contact DFI’s Mortgage Assistance Team at 1-877-RING-DFI (746-4334) or the Washington Foreclosure Hotline at 1-877-894-HOME (4663) for access to free foreclosure prevention counseling. Additional information is available in multiple languages at https://dfi.wa.gov/coronavirus/resource-sheets.
Read the full press release.
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Nearly 390 nonprofit arts and culture organizations serving 32 Washington counties received funding in recent rounds of CARES Act funding in Washington State. The state’s creative economy supports more than 17,600 arts and culture-related businesses and more than 305,000 jobs.
Administered by Washington State Arts Commission (ArtsWA) in partnership with Washington Department of Commerce (Commerce), and with the support of the governor’s Office of Financial Management (OFM), the $3.405 million available in two successive grant pools will bolster organizations whose arts and creative programs employ thousands of people and contribute to the economic vitality and quality of life in communities across the state.
The one-time grants were made available to nonprofit arts and cultural organizations, including tribal organizations, and fiscally sponsored groups impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Funds can be used to cover pandemic-related losses during the 2020 calendar year.
The grants will support organizations all throughout the state. Approximately 58% of all grants went to organizations outside King County. In addition, 165 organizations that were funded had never received grants from ArtsWA before. Twenty arts programs and organizations in Snohomish County received grants including Cascade Symphony Orchestra, Art Walk Edmonds, Snohomish County Music Project, Pilchuck Glass School, Schack Art Center, Imagine Children's Museum, Red Curtain Foundation for the Arts, and Hibulb Cultural Center.
Read the full release.
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Do you have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine? We want you to have accurate information about when you will be vaccinated, what to expect post-vaccination and more. For information, please go to http://snohd.org/covidvaccine.
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¿Preguntas sobre la vacuna Covid-19? Aprende más sobre la vacuna, incluyendo quién debe vacunarse, posibles efectos secundarios y más. Por favor visite http://bit.ly/shdcovidvacuna.
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Our holiday celebrations might look a little different this year, but we know that our sacrifices will be worth it. Celebrate small this season so that we can all gather together soon. #InItTogether
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The COVID-19 Brief will not be published on Friday, Dec. 25. The next edition will be Tuesday, Dec. 29.
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Cumulative from Jan. 2020 through December 22, 2020.
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ESSENTIAL LINKS AND PHONE NUMBERS FOR UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION
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