Coronavirus updates: Inslee to require masks in Yakima County; state reaches 28,680 cases Sunday
This page includes coronavirus developments around Washington state for Sunday, June 21.
Updated at 6:15 p.m.
The Washington State Department of Health on Sunday reported 455 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and five additional deaths.
Statewide totals have reached 28,680 cases and 1,270 deaths, up from 28,225 cases and 1,265 deaths on Saturday.
King County continues to be the hardest hit with 9,211 cases and 600 deaths. Yakima County has 6,283 cases and 138 deaths while Snohomish County has 3,237 cases and 163 deaths. Pierce County reported 29 new cases and no deaths on Sunday, bringing its totals to2,284 cases and 84 deaths.
Garfield, the state’s least populous county, remains the only county without a reported case. Six other counties are reporting fewer than 10 cases each.
There are 30 cases that have not been assigned to a county.
There were 160 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 admitted to state hospitals on June 13, the most recent date with complete data. The total number of people who have been hospitalized in the state stood at 4,049 on Sunday.
There have been 474,938 tests conducted in the state with 6.0% coming back positive.
The test numbers reflect only polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which are given to patients while the virus is presumably still active in the body.
Pierce County reports 29 new cases
Updated at 4 p.m.
Pierce County reported 29 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Sunday and no additional deaths.
The county’s totals are now at 2,284 cases and 84 deaths.
Pierce County had 239 new cases in the last 14 days, an average of 17.1 new cases each day. There have been 26.5 new cases per 100,000 residents during the past 14 days, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department website says.
As of Saturday, the county reported an estimated 420 active cases.
Daily case totals can change as the county receives new information about cases, finds duplicate data or is assigned cases originally attributed to other counties.
There have been 34,179 tests conducted in the county with positive results at 6.6%, according to the state Department of Health.
On June 17, DOH corrected its negative test reporting to exclude serology (antibody) testing results. About 95,000 negative tests statewide aren’t yet assigned to a county.
Next week, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department will begin its own local reporting of overall negative tests and this number will not include serology tests. It’s a part of a Safe Start dashboard that is scheduled to launch Wednesday.
Sunday’s geographical case totals are listed below with Saturday’s totals in parentheses:
▪ Bonney Lake: 50 (no change)
▪ Central Pierce County: 159 (157)
▪ East Pierce County: 60 (no change)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 105 (104)
▪ Frederickson: 74 (73)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 60 (58)
▪ Graham: 71 (no change)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 9 (no change)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 60 (58)
▪ Lakewood: 236 (235)
▪ Parkland: 132 (no change)
▪ Puyallup: 162 (160)
▪ South Hill: 116 (114)
▪ South Pierce County: 45 (44)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 23 (no change)
▪ Spanaway: 75 (73)
▪ Tacoma: 742 (736)
▪ University Place: 83 (87)
▪ Unknown: 13 (no change)
Inslee to require masks in Yakima County
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
Gov. Jay Inslee will issue a proclamation ordering Yakima County residents to wear masks while in public places in an effort to halt the spike of coronavirus cases there.
Inslee said Saturday the proclamation will come in the next several days and that it will be a legal requirement that businesses not sell products to customer who don’t wear face coverings.
“Essentially this means, no masks no services. No masks, no goods,” Inslee said. “We are going to be swamped with a tidal wave of COVID-19 if we do not act now.”
Inslee added, “While I hear some voices saying that this is overblown, the facts are otherwise.”
Officials at Virginia Mason Memorial hospital in Yakima, which holds more than 200 beds, said Saturday the facility has no available beds and that 22 patients, some with the coronavirus, have been sent to Seattle for care.
The total positive case count in Yakima County, as of Friday, was 6,270, The Seattle Times reported. The county has seen 118 deaths from the virus, according to the Yakima Health District.
Inslee said cases could double in the next two weeks unless dramatic actions were taken and said he’s considering a similar order for other counties, but did not elaborate.
Nearby Benton and Franklin counties are also feeling the strain on their health care systems, but Yakima County remains Washington state’s hot spot for the virus.
Inslee said 19% of the hospital beds in Yakima have COVID-19 patients in them while that percentage is about 2.5 elsewhere in the state.
Layoffs climb in Washington aviation industry
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
Job losses in Washington’s aviation sector are climbing as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
Swissport, which provides ground handling and fueling services for airlines, is laying off nearly 300 workers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, The Seattle Times reported.
With international air travel not expected to recover soon, 131 of the Swissport layoffs are labeled permanent.
Toray Composites America announced 146 layoffs at its Frederickson plant near Tacoma, which has a workforce of roughly 600. The company supplies Boeing with the carbon fiber material for its composite airplane structures on the 787 and 777,
“It’s pretty dark,” said Tim Kirk, Toray’s vice president of aerospace sales. “There’s no good news coming out of Boeing right now.”
Kirk said the 787 Dreamliner is the airplane best positioned to recover sales. Still, he said, “demand for long-haul air travel is almost nonexistent now and will be slow to come back.”
And Boeing plans to cut almost 10,000 jobs.
While some of those cuts will be achieved through voluntary buyouts and retirements, the jet maker has issued July 31 layoff notices to 5,798 workers.
Additional Boeing supply firms announcing layoffs include 59 at Tool Gauge and Machine Works in Tacoma; 111 at Sekisui Aerospace at plants in Renton and Sumner; 59 at Pioneer Human Services in Seattle, and 72 at Cadence Aerospace, Giddens Industries in Everett.
After Japanese planemaker Mitsubishi Aircraft announced a severe cutback to its SpaceJet program and the shuttering of its U.S. operations, it has announced 240 layoffs in Renton and Moses Lake.
The list, which is not complete, already tallies nearly 6,900 jobs lost through layoffs.
Outdoor dining options to expand in Tacoma
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
The City of Tacoma will allow restaurants and retailers to apply for temporary permits to seat patrons and sell goods in the street, an effort to aid local businesses as they navigate business under coronavirus capacity restrictions.
The curbside cafes — also known as streateries or parklets — will complement the city’s sidewalk cafe program, though retailers also are welcome to apply. Restaurants in particular stand to benefit from the additional seating, as they must operate at half-capacity both indoors and out through Phase 2 of the state’s COVID-19 recovery plan.
For now, the city will waive application and street occupancy fees, the latter of which would typically apply for a private entity to use public spaces for events such as a street festival.
Approved lots will take over one or two existing parking spaces in front of the business and must be barricaded — at least two feet from the street — by temporary, mobile structures such as metal fencing or large planters. Umbrellas, canopies or other shade coverings are permitted but must be free from advertising and cannot extend onto the remaining public right-of-way.
In other words, the streateries cannot in any way seep onto the sidewalk. For example, a restaurant that has both a sidewalk cafe and a streatery must leave appropriate space for pedestrians in between the two seating areas. Businesses also must adhere to the same local, state and federal regulations that regularly apply.
Everything within the streatery — tables, chairs, retail shelving, umbrellas, planters — must be easily removable.
The program will not require businesses to set up and tear down the streatery each day.
“The program will consider both low-cost, temporary installations and more substantial installations such as constructed platforms,” Josh Diekmann, a city transportation engineer, told The News Tribune in an email, adding that they can remain standing during non-business hours for the duration of the permit.
Generally, they will focus on streets where the speed limit is no more than 25 miles per hour. Diekmann said businesses on streets with higher speed limits might be eligible but require heftier barricades, for instance.
The new dining or retail areas can exist only in legal parking spaces and must be at least five feet from a driveway, 25 feet from an intersection, 30 feet from a stop sign and 60 feet from a bus stop. These regulations follow state parking laws, Diekmann added.
Washington state passes 28K cases
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
The Washington State Department of Health reported 624 new COVID-19 cases and 10 deaths Saturday.
Statewide totals have reached 28,225 cases and 1,265 deaths, up from 27,601 cases and 1,255 deaths Friday.
King County has 9,154 cases and 601 deaths, while Yakima County has 6,129 cases and 136 deaths and Snohomish County has 3,226 cases and 163 deaths.
Pierce County reported 32 new cases Saturday, bringing its totals to 2,257 cases and 84 deaths.
Nineteen of the state’s 39 counties have reported more than 100 cases, and 11 counties have reported at least 10 virus-related deaths.
Garfield, the state’s least populous county, remains the only county without a reported case. Six other counties are reporting fewer than 10 cases each.
There are 62 cases that have not been assigned to a county.
There were 12 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 admitted to state hospitals on June 12, the most recent date with complete data. The total number of people who have been hospitalized in the state stood at 4,030 on Saturday.
There have been 466,069 tests conducted in the state with 6.1% coming back positive.
The test numbers reflect only polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which are given to patients while the virus is presumably still active in the body.
This story was originally published June 21, 2020 at 8:47 AM with the headline "Coronavirus updates: Inslee to require masks in Yakima County; state reaches 28,680 cases Sunday."
