Coronavirus updates: Next round of Dislocated Worker Grants incudes Washington state
This page includes coronavirus developments around Washington state for Thursday, April 30.
Updated at 4 p.m.
Pierce County on Thursday reported 29 new COVID-19 cases. For the second day in a row, no new deaths were reported.
Despite the good news on the death tally, areas continue to see a rise in cases, with Lakewood seeing the biggest one-day jump with 10 new cases reported Thursday. Tacoma still has the most cases in Pierce County with 471.
At least seven census tracts on the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s online map show 20 or more cases, up from about 3 as of April 22. Three of the seven also include outbreaks at congregate care sites within those tracts.
The county has reported a total of 1,430 cases and 51 deaths since the coronavirus pandemic began, according to figures from the health department.
Daily case totals can change as the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department receives new information. Adjustments can include correcting duplicate data, assigning a case to another county or learning a test was a false positive.
Thursday’s geographical totals are listed below with Wednesday’s reported numbers in parentheses:
▪ Bonney Lake: 36 (34)
▪ Central Pierce County: 107 (104)
▪ East Pierce County: 39 (no change)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 77 (75)
▪ Frederickson: 50 (no change)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 50 (no change)
▪ Graham: 45 (no change)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 7 (no change)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 37 (no change)
▪ Lakewood: 142 (132)
▪ Parkland: 74 (71)
▪ Puyallup: 69 (67)
▪ South Hill: 75 (74)
▪ South Pierce County: 32 (no change)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 17 (no change)
▪ Spanaway: 48 (47)
▪ Tacoma: 471 (467)
▪ University Place: 48 (no change)
▪ Unknown: 6 (5)
Daily reports include cases received by 11:59 p.m. the previous day.
Pierce County parks to open May 5
Updated at 4 p.m.
Pierce County is restoring public use of parks with protocols and guidelines to keep the public safe. Park and trailhead parking lots will open May 5, while Chambers Creek Regional Park will open earlier, on May 1.
Parks outdoor spaces will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Restrooms will remain closed at all parks and trailheads.
Additional protocols have been created to promote respectful use, including limiting travel, shortening stays, and social distancing. Recreation centers, playgrounds, picnic shelters and fields at athletic complexes will remain closed.
These services align with Gov. Jay Inslee’s announcement authorizing increased access to public lands for outdoor recreation outings.
Inslee announces language access plan
Updated at 1 p.m.
Gov. Jay Inslee issued a memo on Wednesday to state agencies detailing a new language access plan that will ensure state agencies can provide vital COVID-19 information to individuals with disabilities and with limited English proficiency.
“Information is one of the best tools we have in this fight against COVID-19,” said Gov. Jay Inslee. “But not every community has equal access to information. This plan helps ensure every Washingtonian is better able to stay safe and healthy by making sure our state agencies are providing information that is culturally-relevant and accessible.”
The plan, which was developed in coordination with the state’s COVID-19 Joint Information Center, provides a streamlined new process for agencies to translate vital information related to COVID-19 into the top 37 languages spoken in Washington state.
These top languages are spoken by at least 5% of the state population or 1,000 people based on 2016 Office of Financial Management data. The plan also provides guidance for state agencies to establish telephonic interpretation services which allows real-time translation over the phone.
The state Department of Health in coordination with the state’s JIC has made COVID-19 health information available in at least 26 languages and has produced an American Sign Language COVID-19 video series.
Wave of Dislocated Worker Grants includes Washington
Updated at 8:35 a.m.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced the award of seven Dislocated Worker Grants, totaling $30170,311, to help address the workforce-related impacts of the public health emergency related to the coronavirus pandemic.
These awards are funded under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act which provided $345 million for DWGs intended to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus. After distributing $131,286,863 in DWG funding to 24 states and territories on April 14, 2020, this latest announcement brings the total amount awarded to $161,457,174.
Seven states will receive award funding in this wave: Arizona, Connecticut, Louisiana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared the coronavirus a nationwide public health emergency on Jan. 31. The Federal Emergency Management Agency also issued coronavirus emergency declarations for states, outlying areas and Indian tribal governments on March 13.
These federal declarations enable the Secretary of Labor to award Disaster Recovery DWGs to help address the workforce-related impacts of this public health emergency.
Disaster Recovery DWGs may provide eligible participants disaster-relief employment to address coronavirus impacts within their communities, as well as employment and training activities. Employment Recovery DWGs provide reemployment services to eligible individuals affected by mass layoffs, such as those resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.
Tacoma’s MultiCare part of research into drug that shows promise in treating COVID-19
Updated at 8:35 a.m.
An antiviral drug that was one of the first to show some kind of promise in the battle against COVID-19 offered renewed hope Wednesday with some of its early trial results.
Local patients have contributed to some of this early research.
Antiviral drug remdesivir, originally developed to fight the Ebola virus, has been made available in trials happening through MultiCare Health System in Tacoma via Gilead Sciences, the drug’s developer.
No placebos are involved in the local trials.
Gilead Sciences on Wednesday announced that results from its Phase 3 trial of the drug in patients with severe COVID-19 showed that “patients receiving a 10-day treatment course of remdesivir achieved similar improvement in clinical status compared with those taking a 5-day treatment course.”
Gilead’s research was announced the same day as early results from the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ trial of more than 1,000 patients from multiple sites of hospitalized patients either receiving remdesivir or a placebo.
That trial showed patients recovering on average in 11 days, compared with 15 days for those in the placebo group.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, on Wednesday said to reporters at the White House of the results: “The data shows that remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery.”
“What it has proven is that a drug can block this virus.”
Others warn caution about the drug, with a third study out of China not showing clear-cut benefits.
Tacoma Public Library announces temporary staff layoffs
Updated at 8:35 a.m.
Tacoma Public Library announced a temporary layoff of 85 staff members due to the impact of shutdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The temporary layoff is effective May 4 through July 25, though some employees could return earlier. The end date corresponds with the expiration of the federal CARES Act Stimulus that currently expands unemployment benefits.
All Tacoma Public Library locations have been closed since March 14.
The affected employees are those whose job duties were significantly impacted by the Governor’s mandatory closure of public libraries, and those whose take-home pay is the least impacted. Employees with health care coverage will not lose it during the temporary layoff.
Remaining TPL staff will continue to provide essential services, including unemployment application support to all affected City of Tacoma employees. Most non-represented staff at the library, including the Director, are taking a voluntary 11 percent cut in pay.
Inslee makes his case for extending restrictions aimed at slowing virus’ spread
Updated at 8:35 a.m.
One hundred days after Washington state had its first case of COVID-19, Gov. Jay Inslee made his case Wednesday for why many of the restrictions to combat the spread of the deadly virus will remain in place beyond early May.
“We’re not going to make giant mistakes of waking up and thinking the sun is shining so we can forget about this deadly virus. Look, we’ve lost over 700 people already because of this virus and we’re going to lose that again in the next several months if we do not stick with this,” Inslee said at press conference.
The governor’s current stay-at-home and partial business closure order runs through May 4, but on Friday he is expected to extend it. The governor said he will provide more details then on the “phased-in approach about how we will open our economy in a safe way.”
Inslee announced Wednesday that the state is offering guidance to hospitals on what procedures qualify as “non-urgent” surgeries that might soon be allowed.
In making that decision, “clinicians should consider if a patient’s illness or injury is causing significant pain, significant dysfunction in their daily life or work, or is either progressing, or at risk to progress,” according to the guidance memo from Inslee.
Inslee said: “This will allow additional patients to have non-urgent surgery. It’s going to obviously help people get access to new joints and the like and will help with the revenue picture of hospitals as well. And I’m pleased we’ve been able to do this in a way that will make sure our nurses, our respiratory therapists, our physicians have access to personal protective equipment.”
On March 19, Inslee ordered a halt to elective surgeries and dental services, saying the state needed to make sure that health care workers had enough protective equipment to work the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At Wednesday’s briefing, Inslee sat at a conference table and discussed several charts and graphs displayed on a large screen. Combining all of the data is what informs the decision to keep social distancing in place beyond early May, he said. Inslee said much of the data is available on the state Department of Health website.
“The fundamental principle we’re following is ‘let’s just do this once and get it over with.’ And I think it is much better to be disciplined now with this approach rather than have erratic steps at a later date. It’s much better to do something a 100 percent one time than have the sacrifice of 90 percent twice,” he said.
Convalescent plasma seen as ‘glimmer of hope’ for people suffering from COVID-19
Updated at 8:35 a.m.
Regional blood banks are collecting plasma to send to hospitals, giving sick individuals the antibodies to fight COVID-19.
The plasma filled with these antibodies is transfused into sick people to give their immune system a fighting chance, said Tara Crosby, quality assurance director for Cascade Regional Blood Services.
So-called convalescent plasma is seen as an intermediary answer as the world waits for vaccine or treatment studies to be completed, Aaron Posey with Bloodworks Northwest said.
“It gives us hope that there is something used in the interim while the scientific community continues to work on a vaccine,” he told The News Tribune. “For someone without other options, this gives a glimmer of hope.”
Once the FDA approved convalescent plasma transfusion for COVID-19, hospitals began begging blood banks for plasma units, Posey said.
Bloodworks Northwest has provided more than 55 units to local hospitals and screened more than 600 people who can donate convalescent plasma, he said.
“We’re internally ramping to scale up,” Posey said.
Cascade Regional Blood Services has recently started collecting plasma from people who’ve recovered and provided about six units to MultiCare hospitals, Crosby said.
Injecting convalescent plasma into infected people helped during the Ebola outbreak, SARS, MERS, and at least one strain of influenza, she said.
The Food and Drug Administration has outlined the requirements that individuals must meet to donate blood for hospitals. Before donated plasma can be used, it must be tested for safety and meet the FDA requirements, Crosby said.
In a Chinese study, providing sick people with convalescent plasma has been very promising, Posey said. The study looked at 10 patients in severe condition who received convalescent plasma. Almost all showed significant improvement in symptoms, the study found.
Posey recalled that one hospitalized patient in Pierce County was about to be admitted into the ICU. About a day after the transfusion, he was downgraded and is on the mend, he said.
“For a family member with no other options, this is a good alternative,” Posey said.
There is still much research being done on antibody testing and immunity surrounding the coronavirus. The World Health Organization said the theory that the coronavirus can be contracted only once is unproven.
Crosby said anyone who has fully recovered from the virus has enough antibodies to fight off the virus, the only question is how long their immunity lasts. Researchers are looking to create hyper-immune immunoglobulin, or a purified concentration of antibodies that fight COVID-19.
Blood banks ask people who have recovered to check online to see if they qualify to give plasma. The FDA has lowered the threshold for some, like relaxing previous travel restrictions and shortening the wait time for men who had sexual intercourse with other men.
COVID-19 convalescent plasma donors must have tested positive for the virus, Crosby said. Donors can give once every seven days.
16 employees at Foster Farms test positive for virus
Updated at 8:35 a.m.
The results of a second round of employee COVID-19 testing Monday at Foster Farms in southwestern Washington has revealed six new cases, and a seventh was found through a healthcare provider, county health officials said Wednesday.
A total of 16 employees at the Kelso poultry processing facility have now tested positive for the coronavirus, Cowlitz COVID-19 Incident Management Team spokesman Ralph Herrera said. He said 121 employees were tested at the facility Monday, and officials are still waiting for results from three tests, The Daily News reported.
Herrera said officials are working with Foster Farms on next steps and will discuss the test results with them early Thursday. Foster Farms employs approximately 600 people in Kelso.
Officials have said they will expand testing or consider restrictions at the plant based on how severe the outbreak becomes.
Foster Farms sanitizes the plant daily as part of USDA regulations, and employees are currently having their temperatures taken or are checked for illness symptoms before reporting to work, the company has said. Workers are required to wear face coverings while working.
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 8:51 AM with the headline "Coronavirus updates: Next round of Dislocated Worker Grants incudes Washington state."
