News for the Week of February 8

News highlights for the week of February 8.

Latest Numbers. In Mercer Island, there have been 459 positive cases reported as of February 11. DOH reported a total of 307,867 confirmed cases as of February 8. There have been 4,558 COVID-19 deaths in Washington. For the latest city and county data, click here.

Executive Constantine announces expanded vaccination site in Redmond. As part of King County’s regional strategy to equitably, efficiently and quickly vaccinate as many King County residents as possible to get the pandemic under control, Executive Constantine announced that the vaccination site at Microsoft’s Redmond campus will now focus on reaching highest-risk, eligible older adults. Click here for more information.

Where to look for available COVID-19 vaccine appointments. An update from King County notes that all appointments at the Kent and Auburn COVID-19 Vaccination Sites have been filled at this time. They will share updates as vaccine supplies increase and more appointments become available. If you're eligible for vaccination please visit https://www.doh.wa.gov/YouandYourFamily/Immunization/VaccineLocations for additional locations.

King County Unified Regional Strategy COVID Vaccine Delivery Progress Report. King County’s aim is to efficiently and equitably vaccinate as many eligible residents as possible in order to suppress the spread of COVID-19 and minimize the impact of the pandemic on our community. This report is listed on the main COVID-19 vaccine homepage under the "Vaccine progress and strategy" dropdown menu. Click here for the report.

Video Update from the City Manager. At the February 16 City Council meeting, City Manager Jessi Bon will provide an update to the Council and community. Tune in at 5:00pm on the Council’s YouTube Channel to watch the update or view it on MI-TV Channel 21.

Situation Reports. The City has moved to monthly Situation Reports (SitReps), available the first Friday of the month. The next SitRep will be available the afternoon of March 5. Click here to catch up on the latest information and reports.

Information for Businesses

Inslee signs bipartisan bill to support business and workers. This week, Gov. Jay Inslee signed legislation providing relief for businesses and workers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. SB 5061 will increase minimum unemployment benefits for workers and provide significant tax relief for businesses over the next five years. Read the full news release here.

Vaccine News

COVID-19 vaccine distribution update from the Washington State Department of Health. The DOH continues to make progress with their COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration efforts. As of Feb. 6, more than 940,000 doses of vaccine have been given across the state, which is nearly 80% of the 1,195,207 doses that have been delivered to providers and long-term care programs. Washington is currently averaging 26,857 vaccine doses given each day. This information can be found on the DOH data dashboard under the vaccines tab, which is updated three times per week.

School News

New COVID-19 Outbreaks in Schools Report. On February 11, the State DOH released the COVID-19 Outbreaks in Washington State K-12 Schools report. The report includes data about K-12 schools across the state that experienced a COVID-19 outbreak between August 1-December 31, 2020, including both public and private schools and all learning modalities. An outbreak is defined as two or more positive COVID-19 cases among students or staff with an onset of symptoms within a 14-day period of each other. During that timeframe:

• 13 counties reported COVID-19 outbreaks associated with schools
• 84 K-12 schools experienced COVID-19 outbreaks
• 305 COVID-19 cases were associated with outbreaks in schools
• 64% of outbreaks involved two or three cases
• 50% of COVID-19 cases were students age 18 or under

Click here to read the full report.

Resources

Containing COVID-19 at Home. Over the past year, we have learned that COVID-19 spreads easily within households, possibly making our homes one of the riskiest places. You can even spread the virus without having any symptoms. Now that more contagious variants have been detected in the United States, including one in Washington state, this may be even more true. Click here for tips and information.

Last Call…

The monthly Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children Associated with COVID-19 in Washington State report is available. Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a condition that causes inflammation in different body parts, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs. Read the full report here.