Coronavirus In Sammamish-Issaquah: The Week In Review

SAMMAMISH, WA — The state is not out of the woods yet, but Washington is in the strongest position it has been in months.

Daily case counts remain high, but by almost every metric the Evergreen State is improving. The latest COVID-19 State Profile Report from the White House shows several promising signs, including a 17 percent dip in coronavirus cases over the last week and four percent fewer deaths than the week before.

On the other hand, vaccinations are on the rise. The Washington State Department of Health confirmed Friday that 1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had been administered across the state. The DOH even held a ceremony celebrating 90-year-old Ruby T, of East Wenatchee, who received the millionth vaccine dose.

According to that federal data, nearly 10 percent of Washingtonians have received their first vaccine dose. The DOH says more than 26,000 residents receive the vaccine each day.

And more good news is expected in the coming week. Sunday, five new regions will enter the second phase of the Healthy Washington Plan, allowing hundreds of local businesses in those regions to reopen their doors to the public.

Meanwhile, the governor plans to sign a $2.2 billion COVID-19 relief bill sometime in the next seven days. The bill, which passed with bipartisan support in both chambers, provides an additional $325 million for rental assistance and $240 million to create more Working Washington grants for local businesses, among other relief efforts.

In King County, coronavirus trends continue on a downward trajectory, and the latest report shows a 41 percent decrease in case counts over the last two weeks. However, officials caution much is needed to prevent a destructive fourth wave, especially as more infectious variants become more widespread before enough of the population is vaccinated.

"I think we may be watching the ride silently recede before a tsunami," said Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer for King County. "We need to continue to do everything we can to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in all aspects of our lives and get our numbers and hospitalizations as low as possible before the variant reaches this critical mass and erupts."

Duchin said practicing all preventative measures in tandem is essential to prevent unwitting infections, including consistent and proper mask use and continuing to limit contact with those outside the immediate household.

"No single strategy is enough to protect against COVID-19," Duchin said. "Wearing a face mask whenever around people who don't live in the home is one of the most effective strategies but must be combined with limiting our activities, avoiding crowded indoor spaces, improving indoor ventilation, and continuing to wash hands."

In Sammamish, Public Health - Seattle & King County recorded seven cases Friday, with 41 positive tests, two hospitalizations and one death resulting from the coronavirus over the past two weeks. The city's 14-day positivity rate dropped to 6.8 percent. Issaquah also added seven cases Friday, with 30 positive tests, one hospitalization and one death recorded over 14 days. The city's testing positivity rate increased slightly to 7.1 percent.

The rate of cases across King County dropped to 157 per 100,000 residents over two weeks but remains about six times higher than the goal range.

Catch up on the latest developments:

Wild weather forecast disrupts testing, vaccinations

The snowy weather forecast has put a wrench in many local testing and vaccination plans.

In King County, testing sites in Auburn, Tukwila, Federal Way, Enumclaw, Renton and Bellevue are closed, and vaccinations scheduled for Saturday at Auburn's drive-thru vaccination site have been transferred to the Kent site instead.

Meanwhile, Pierce County has closed all of its mobile COVID-19 testing sites through the weekend, citing weather concerns.

Bottom line: if you have a vaccination appointment or testing plans this weekend, it won't hurt to double-check and see if it has been moved or postponed. Even if you do still have a vaccination appointment, if the roads are too dangerous it's better to reschedule than risk it.

"We want to make sure that everyone stays safe," said Dr. Jeff Duchin, King County's top health official. "So, regardless of where you're seeking vaccinations, use good judgment and don't put yourself in unsafe position to get your vaccine appointment. We certainly will have people to reschedule if they can't get to their appointments."

Read more: Auburn Vaccine Appointments Moved To Kent

5 more regions will move to Phase 2 this weekend

By Sunday, 7 out of 8 of Washington's regions will have entered the second phase of Gov. Inslee's Healthy Washington plan to reopen the state.

The lone holdout will be the South Central region, comprised of Kittitas, Yakima, Benton, Franklin, Walla Walla, and Columbia counties. Together they contain just 8 percent of Washington's population.

Entering Phase 2 lifts several restrictions, allowing for the return of indoor dining, movie theaters, gyms, and music venues, among other changes.

On Feb. 1, the Puget Sound and West regions became the first two areas to enter Phase 2. Those two regions include seven counties: Snohomish, King, Pierce, Lewis Thurston, Pacific, and Grays Harbor.

Read more: 5 More WA Regions Will Enter Phase 2 Reopening Sunday

DOH shares concerns of equity in vaccine distribution

New data from the Washington State Department of Health shows vaccines are not going to residents who need them most: Washington's Black, Hispanic and multiracial communities, which have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

The DOH released an update on vaccine distribution Thursday showing just how much Washington's BIPOC communities have been underserved:

• Hispanic residents make up 13.2% of the state's total population, but only 4.7% of the people who have received one vaccine dose.
• Similarly, Black residents comprise 3.9% of Washington's population but represent just 2.2% of people who have received a single dose of the vaccine.

“These data are crucial to understanding how we must balance the need to vaccinate as many Washingtonians as quickly as possible while also promoting equity in the process,” said Umair A. Shah, Washington's secretary of health. “While we have been focusing on both throughout, we must all do more to address these COVID-19 vaccine inequities and related access barriers.”

To improve equity, the state has launched several community outreach programs. More will begin in the coming weeks. Dr. Shah also says the state will be releasing a plan to improve equitable access sometime later in the coming week.

In addition, Gov. Jay Inslee, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, and King County Executive Dow Constantine will be launching a new vaccine equity fund Monday.

Read more: Vaccine Distribution Improving, Equity Remains A Concern

CDC updates guidance to include "double-masking"

A new study from the Centers For Disease Control not only reaffirmed that cloth face coverings may help prevent COVID-19 transmission - but says a second mask could help even more.

That study, released Wednesday by the CDC, found that "double-masking," wearing a cloth covering on top of a disposable medical mask, effectively blocks twice as many particles as a single mask alone. Researchers found that together, the two masks were 95% effective at blocking potentially infectious aerosols.

The CDC has since updated mask guidance to include optionally wearing the cloth and disposable mask combo. That said, that's the only combination they recommend - two disposable masks or a combination of N95 masks and other coverings will not help and should be avoided.

Read more: CDC, WA Health Officials Share Tips For Effective Mask Use

Dozens of Washington hospitals discover counterfeit N95 masks

The Washington State Hospital Association has asked hospitals across the state to check their supply of N95 respirators after several discovered that their N95 masks were fake.

The hospital association says it was contacted late Friday by mask manufacturer 3M, whose fraud department was investigating claims of phony N95s. Several hospitals then volunteered to ship masks to the 3M Fraud Department — who quickly found that at least some of the masks were counterfeits.

3M then identified several bulk mask purchases that likely contained fraudulent masks. According to the Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA), the issue impacts dozens of hospitals and potentially hundreds of thousands of masks.

Read more: Counterfeit N95 Masks Found At Dozens Of WA Hospitals

New data shows preventative measures succeeding in Washington schools

The Washington State Department of Health has released new data on outbreaks in local schools - data which they say shows just how well current preventative measures are working to keep kids safe. Now, they're looking to see how those measures could help bring more students back into the classroom.

For their study, the DOH logged outbreaks at K-12 schools all across the state of Washington from August through December. In total, they found:

• Just 13 out of Washington's 39 counties had any outbreaks in their school systems.
• In those 13 counties, however, 89 K-12 schools had at least one outbreak.
• Those outbreaks caused 305 new COVID-19 cases.
• 64 percent of outbreaks involved just two or three cases.
• Half of the 305 cases were in students 18 years old or younger.

Notably, Spokane County contained by far the most problems, with 33 individual outbreaks and 151 of the 305 total COVID-19 cases.

Read more: New Data On COVID-19 Outbreaks In WA Schools May Guide Path Ahead

Total coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths by county:

Editors note: Patch is now updating these totals on a weekly, rather than daily, basis. Readers should keep in mind that the increases below represent infections, hospitalizations and deaths over a seven-day period.

Also, note that the totals below include 16,626 probable cases.

The above numbers are provided by the state Department of Health, and some numbers differ from the totals provided separately by county health agencies.