News for the Week of May 17

News highlights for the week of May 17.

Latest Numbers. In Mercer Island, there have been 587 positive cases reported as of May 21. DOH reported a total of 392,754 confirmed cases as of May 19. There have been 5,690 COVID-19 deaths in Washington. As of May 17, more than 6.4m doses of vaccine have been given across the state. More than 47% of people in Washington 16+ are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and more than 59% of people 16+ have received at least one dose. For the latest city and county data, click here.

What You Need to Know About King County’s Mask Directive for Indoor Spaces. From King County’s Public Health Insider Blog: With local COVID-19 case and hospitalization rates decreasing but still at elevated levels, King County Health Officer Dr. Jeff Duchin has issued an updated Directive strongly urging all residents, fully vaccinated or not, to continue wearing face masks in public indoor settings. Click here to read on.

Governor Issues Updated Healthy Washington and Safe Workers Proclamations. On Friday, the Governor issued an extension of the Healthy Washington – Roadmap to Recovery emergency proclamation (Proclamation 20-25.13). Additionally, the governor issued new worker protections that safeguard employees who wish to get vaccinated, or who are in isolation or quarantine, from adverse action by their employer (Proclamation 21-08).

State’s vaccine outreach shifts from mass vaccination sites to mobile vaccination clinics. After a successful four-month run, DOH is transitioning the state-led mass vaccination effort from stationary sites to mobile vaccination clinics. This new phase of vaccine outreach will help the state reach people who have experienced barriers in vaccine access and help distribute life-saving shots more equitably and conveniently across the state of Washington. Read the full news release here.

Vaccine Pop-Up Clinics this weekend. Want to get vaccinated this weekend? See a list of vaccination pop-ups happening through Sunday (5/22), no registration required! For the most up to date information and for more on getting vaccinated, visit kingcounty.gov/vaccine

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 June 4. Click here to catch up on the latest information and reports.

Vaccine News

King County COVID-19 Vaccine Data At-a-Glance. Page updated daily here.

Need vaccine support? The DOH has a new support line. Call 1-833-VAX-HELP for assistance.

School News

School testing program will now include funding for screening tests. DOH, in conjunction with Health Commons Project, is making it easier for schools across the state to do both diagnostic testing and screening testing for COVID-19. New funding will allow districts and schools the option to add screening tests to their COVID-19 testing strategy if they choose. Read the full news release here.

Resources

King County's Eviction Prevention Rental Assistance Program is now available for tenants. On May 18, King County Executive Dow Constantine announced the next phase of the Eviction Prevention Rental Assistance Program (EPRAP). Last year, it kept more than 9,000 residents in their homes. With three times more funding this year, EPRAP will help thousands more.

COVID-19 Reporting

DOH will not update the Data Dashboard this weekend. Due to scheduled maintenance, we will not update the COVID-19 Data Dashboard on the weekend of May 22–May 23. We will include data from those days in total case and hospitalization counts for Monday, May 24.