Tag Archives: covid-19

With COVID-19 state of emergency coming to an end, First Hill’s Frye Art Museum adding new ‘mask-required hours’

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(Image: Jonathan Vanderweit/Frye)

The end of October will bring an end to nearly 1,000 days of Washington’s COVID-19 state of emergency. But, of course, it doesn’t bring the end of the pandemic. The transition is leaving many important decisions regarding life with the virus to individuals, private businesses, and organizations to sort out and find the best paths forward.

First Hill’s Frye Art Museum is taking steps to create a safe environment for all of its visitors by instituting new “mask-required hours” during the first Sunday of every month. Expect to see more similar solutions in Seattle.

“To accommodate immunocompromised individuals and those who prefer to visit when all guests and staff are required to mask, we offer mask-required hours on the first Sunday of the month from 11 am– 1 pm,” Frye’s announcement reads. Continue reading →

After nearly 1,000 days, Washington’s COVID-19 state of emergency will end October 31st

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The state of emergency was enacted in early 2020 when we were still getting used to face masks

(Image: Washington State Department of Health)

Just under 1,000 days and after what will be more than 14,000 deaths from the virus in the state, Washington’s COVID-19 state of emergency will end October 31st.

“We’ve come a long way the past two years in developing the tools that allow us to adapt and live with COVID-19,” Governor Jay Inslee said in Thursday’s announcement as his administration credited the response for Washington’s relatively low death rate during the waves of outbreaks. “Ending this order does not mean we take it less seriously or will lose focus on how this virus has changed the way we live. We will continue our commitments to the public’s well-being, but simply through different tools that are now more appropriate for the era we’ve entered.”

Through the pandemic, Capitol HIll residents and businesses lived through new restrictions and requirements including social distancing, mask, and vaccination mandates as officials tried to fine tune the public response to slowing the spread of the virus.

Many elements of the emergency have already ended or been canceled but the lifting of the February 2020 declaration will bring a new milestone in emerging from the pandemic across the state with the end of requirements like vaccination mandates for state workers.

It will also more fully unhinge a complicated framework of legal structures and policies ranging from counties, to cities, to institutions like schools and hospitals, to private businesses that have built rules and requirements around the official emergency status.

Continue reading →

Council proposal would place permanent cap on delivery fees charged to Seattle restaurants

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A Seattle City Council committee Wednesday will discuss a proposal to continue capping fees food delivery services can charge the city’s restaurants.

In early 2020, City Hall included a cap on the fees in restrictions hoped to provide economic protections to small businesses as the COVID-19 pandemic caused lockdowns and closures. The emergency order capped the commission charged to restaurants by services like Grubhub and Postmates at 15% and mandated that 100% of gratuities be paid through to drivers, bikers, and on foot delivery contract workers the apps depend on. Continue reading →

Sawant amendment to Seattle’s ‘six-month defense’ passes as City Council continues tweaks to pandemic protections for renters

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Amid ongoing legal challenges, the Seattle City Council continues to adjust legislation hoped to help protect renters during the pandemic.

Tuesday, the council unanimously passed a bill sponsored by Kshama Sawant to amend Seattle’s “six-month defense” ordinance.

The. previously passed ordinance provides tenants with a defense against evictions for six-months after the end of the eviction moratorium which officially ended in February. Continue reading →

What the ‘living with it’ spring COVID case surge looks like in Seattle and King County — UPDATE

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(Image: Public Health)

(Image: Public Health)

There are currently 15 new COVID-19 hospitalizations a day in King County — a number we haven’t seen here since Valentine’s Day.

Deaths are increasing, too, to around two per day.

The official count of positive cases? That’s up — but less dramatically.

While the latest wave of the pandemic across Seattle, the county, and the nation will be marked by changing behaviors and attitudes to the virus, people are still seeking out testing here with lab-based PCR tests now averaging around 6,500 processed per day — also the highest since February.

And more of those people getting tested across Seattle and the county are finding out they are sick with COVID. Continue reading →

Seattle City Council weighs changes to COVID-19 rent repayment plan protections — UPDATE

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The Seattle City Council Tuesday afternoon will consider legislation that would amend a Seattle protection for tenants behind on their rent by tying repayment plan requirements to the city’s ongoing COVID-19 civil emergency, not the state’s.

UPDATE: The bill has passed. “Rather than limiting tenants to six months to repay debts accumulated over two years, Council Bill 120305 defines a reasonable repayment plan as one in which debts can be repaid in monthly installments, with no monthly installment exceeding one-third of the tenant’s monthly rent,” an announcement from sponsoring councilmember Dan Strauss’s office reads. “This repayment plan will apply to any rental debts incurred during the City of Seattle’s ongoing COVID-19 civil emergency, or within six-months after the end of the civil emergency.”

The procedural change comes amid legal challenges and will create a new timeline for the protections which require landlords to accept a repayment plan “of rental arrears accrued during or within six months after the termination of the COVID civil emergency.”

Mayor Bruce Harrell has not said what his plans are to terminate the city’s civil emergency, established by Jenny Durkan in March 2020. In February, Harrell decided to end the long string of extensions, bringing an end to the city’s ban on evictions. Continue reading →

As TSA shifts requirements for flights and transit, masks now optional on Seattle buses and light rail — UPDATE

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(Image: Metro)

A decision from a federal judge in Florida striking down federal requirements for masking on airlines and public transportation has put King County Metro and Sound Transit in the challenging position of trying to protect its workers and riders amid rapid changes across the national transportation system.

UPDATE 10:58 AM: In a joint announcement, Puget Sound area transit agencies including Metro and Sound Transit announced they are also quickly transitioning to make masks optional:

Face coverings no longer required on transit and in transit facilities in Puget Sound region

In accordance with yesterday’s statement from the federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA), agencies providing transit to riders throughout the Puget Sound region announced that face coverings will no longer be required on transit, at transit facilities or in transit hubs effective today.

Participating in this announcement are the following agencies:

Continue reading →

Health officials make recommendations for slow but steady spring rise in COVID-19 cases: Keep boosting, please mask, and seek fresh air

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(Image: City of Seattle)

Health officials are recommending a focus on vaccines, outdoor activities, and indoor air quality as Seattle and King County COVID-19 cases continue to slowly rise.

Seattle and King County Public Health officials say new COVID-19 cases are “rising slowly but steadily” this spring but hospitalizations and deaths remain low thanks to high levels of vaccination here.

CHS reported last week on the jump in cases in King County as totals climbed in Seattle after the end of mask and vax card requirements — especially in the wealthiest parts of Capitol Hill. Health officials say the numbers have also been on the rise in eastern King County. “All age groups are seeing some increase in cases, but the biggest increase is among young adults 18-35 years of age, followed by those 30-49, officials say. Rates are lowest among those 65 and older and children. Continue reading →

Remember COVID-19? Cases climbed in Seattle after end of mask and vax card requirements — especially in wealthiest parts of Capitol Hill

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Cases in Seattle were up 48% in the second half of March — but are still considered to be at low levels


 

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Transmission of COVID-19 across King County remains officially at a “low” level but cases in and around Seattle are up about 50% over the previous week and have nearly doubled from recent lows seen just before the lifting of vaccination card and mask requirements in March.

Among these still relatively low totals and smaller outbreaks, the spring bump shows some of the highest rates of spread in the area’s wealthiest ZIP Codes including Capitol Hill’s 98112, mirroring a trend observed in other major U.S. cities.

Across 98112 covering eastern Capitol Hill and areas like Montlake, and Madison Park, the rate climbed to around 475 cases per 100,000 residents in the second half of march, one of the highest rates measured in the county. The rest of the Capitol Hill weighed in at around 300 cases per 100,000 for the period. Continue reading →

Seattle weighs options after court strikes down ‘Eviction Defense for Renters’

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A key component of Seattle’s efforts to protect renters from eviction as the city emerges from years of COVID-19 restrictions has been struck down by the Washington State Court of Appeals.

CHS reported here in May 2020 on Seattle’s “Eviction Defense for Renters,” a policy that was designed to provide renters with a six-month cushion after the lifting of COVID-19 eviction restrictions. The Seattle City Council legislation from then council president M. Lorena González was intended to create “a defense a tenant may use for six months should a landlord take their tenant to eviction court” and establish that renters can use “non-payment of rent for any reason as a defense to eviction, as long as they submit a declaration of financial hardship to the court. Continue reading →