This afternoon Mayor Durkan announced the city’s latest move to combat the spread of COVID-19: effective at 6pm tomorrow, all Seattle Library locations will be closed. In addition, Seattle Parks and Recreation will “cancel all programming, rentals, and permitted events, and close all community centers, pools, environmental learning centers, and other recreation facilities,” with the exception of preschool programs and hygiene services.
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How to help us all get through the coronavirus outbreak
The coronoavirus outbreak is scary for those most at risk of severe health consequences. It’s also scary for all of us with friends and loved ones who are at risk. And it’s disrupted everyone’s lives here in the Seattle area. But we’re in this together, and we’ll get through it together. Here are nine ways that you can help your friends, family, neighbors, and community as we all deal with this public health emergency for the next several weeks.
Continue readingDoes King County have enough hospital beds to deal with the coronavirus?
Now that the first first healthcare crisis for COVID-19, the lack of testing, is starting to get addressed, it’s time to ask the next question: when the outbreak hits its peak, will there be enough hospital beds in King County for all the people who need them? Let’s dive in.
Continue readingMayor announce relief measures to address impact of COVID-19
This afternoon, Mayor Durkan announced a list of initial efforts to address the economic impacts that businesses and workers are feeling from the response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Continue readingNotes from today’s Council meeting, including COVID-19 updates
In the Council’s first Monday meeting by Skype, they heard a long briefing from county and city officials on the status of the COVID-19 response, and took care of a few items of business.
Continue readingWhat does the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic teach us about how to respond to COVID-19?
There is a trio of research papers from 2007 that look at how U.S. cities responded to the the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919. They provide interesting insights into how Seattle and other cities might respond today as the coronavirus sweeps across the country.
Continue readingCouncil briefed on COVID-19, modifies Mayoral emergency declaration
This afternoon, the City Council received a long briefing from King County Public Health and several city department heads on the status of the COVID-19 response in Seattle. It then went into an extended executive session with its attorneys, followed by a public session in which it modified the Mayor’s declaration of emergency and issued a resolution with requests and expectations for the Mayor in how she exercised her emergency powers.
Continue readingMayor declares civil emergency related to coronavirus (updated)
This afternoon, Mayor Durkan declared a civil emergency related to the outbreak of the coronavirus known as COVID-19. (UPDATE 3/4: additional information added below in several places and at the end)
Continue readingWhat we know now about the coronavirus, and the response
A lot has happened in the six weeks since I first posted on the Wuhan coronavirus, now called COVID-19. In mid-January there were a handful of cases, not a lot of data, and almost no cases outside of one province in China. All three of those situations have changed somewhat, and with several confirmed cases and (as of this writing) six deaths in Washington state, it’s worth pausing for a moment and taking a hard look at what we know now.
Continue readingTwo years in, we still don’t know if Seattle’s soda tax is working
In June of 2017, the Seattle City Council passed a 1.75 cent-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages, which took effect on January 1, 2018. Today, over two years later, we still don’t have any idea whether it’s succeeding — or even a clear, agreed-upon definition of success. And that situation is unlikely to change soon.
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