12/11: Friday Briefing

By rebecca No comments

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STATE

  • Along with Tuesday’s announcement extending statewide restrictions originally imposed on November 17, the governor also has made some modifications and updates to include a prohibition against indoor communal singing with people from outside of one’s household.
    • Singing is known to generate droplets and aerosols that promote the spread of coronavirus
    • Outdoor singing while wearing a facemask is permitted in almost all circumstances, including religious services, weddings, and funerals.
    • Recovery support groups are exempt from the new restrictions.
  • The priority deadline for many small business grants is today at 5pm!
    • Go to commerce.wa.gov/bizgrants or startup.choosewashingtonstate.com and follow links to the applications if you are a small business!

REGIONAL

  • The Puyallup School District has announced that small groups of kindergarteners and 1st graders will be allowed to attend in-person schooling 2 days per week starting January 12th.
    • State guidelines recommend that the number of COVID cases per 100,000 residents be below 75 before bringing back elementary school students for hybrid learning; currently that number sits at 322.
    • Daily Electronic Health Screening Forms will be required, all students and staff must wear face masks, social distancing will be enforced, and lunch, music, and PE will be held in a student’s main classroom.
  • The Tacoma Pierce County Health Department reported 469 new COVID 19 cases today.
    • The department notes that we will continue to see fluctuations in this week’s daily case count reports as a new data management system is being implemented and data is being migrated over, and advises that the 14-day average case count offers the most reliable look at disease rate in our community until the new system is fully launched.
    • The County’s average cases per day over the last 2 weeks is 499, and the 14-day case rate per 100,000 people is 322.
    • For reference, that figure is recommended to be at 75 per 100,000 to consider bringing back youngest students for hybrid in-person learning at schools, and should be below 25 per 100,000 residents to be considered under control.
  • Pierce County Council bill #2020-136 would dissolve the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, which has existed as a collaborative interagency department that reports to an independent 8-person board since 1972.
    • The bill passed through committee Monday morning and will head to a vote of the full Pierce County Council on December 15th.
    • You can give feedback on the proposal to dismantle the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department in the middle of a pandemic by calling 253-798-7777.
  • UW’s scheduled Saturday football game against Oregon has been canceled due to COVID-19 infection among Huskies players.

TESTING SITES

  • There are numerous free COVID-19 testing sites in our region:
    • For King County locations visit KingCounty.gov.
    • A new free Covid-19 testing site opened today in Enumclaw, which has seen higher rates of COVID-19 infection and hospitalization compared to the rest of King County.
    • The site is across from the Enumclaw Municipal Building and will operate Thurs-Sat starting at 10:30am.
    • For Pierce County locations, visit TPCHD.org/covidtest.
    • A new COVID 19 testing site recently opened in Lakewood at 3003 107th St, where testing is available Wed thru Sunday 10:30am-5:30 pm.
  • This weekend and next week’s mobile testing events include
    • Sat, Dec 12: Journey Church at 1801 N. Pearl St, Charles Wright Academy at 7723 Chambers Creek Rd, Vassault Park in north Tacoma
    • Sunday, Dec 13: Verlo Park on McKinley, and the MDC at 945 Fawcett Ave in downtown Tacoma.
    • Mon, Dec 14: Salishan Community Health Center, Tacoma STAR Center
    • Tues, Dec 15: Clover Park Technical College, Buckley Fire Dept, Greenwater Fire Dept
    • Wed, Dec 16: Metroparks Kandle Park, the Asia Pacific Cultural Center
    • Thurs Dec 17: Puyallup Fairgrounds Blue Lot, Centro Latino
    • Fri, Dec 18: Tacoma Nazarene Church, Chapel Hill Presb Church in Gig Harbor
    • No ID is required
    • Testing runs 10am-3pm.
    • tests are free and open to anyone
    • results are available in 3-7 days