COVID-19 Vashon Situation Report 
 
Weekdays the Vashon Emergency Operations Center produces a briefing for our emergency workers and for the community. The daily situation report includes information on Vashon community response actions and support.

You can read the full text of the report as a PDF here: 

Current Virus Statistics:

Vashon Island COVID-19 Case Count as of 6/9/20:
·       507 COVID-19 tests reported, 4 additional since last Situation Report yesterday
·       4 confirmed positive cases, 0 change since last Situation Report yesterday
·       Date of last positive test: April 13
·       1 person had been hospitalized
·       0 Vashon deaths
NOTE: Public Health – Seattle & King County (PHSKC) has restored a past practice of reporting number of tests and hospitalizations at the zip code level.

King County COVID-19 Case Count as of 6/9/20:
·       8,536 confirmed positive cases, 29 new since last Situation Report yesterday
·       570 deaths, 3 new since last Situation Report yesterday

Washington State COVID-19 Case Count as of 6/7/20:
·       24,041 confirmed positive cases, 3120 new since last Situation Report yesterday
·       1161 deaths, 2 new since last Situation Report yesterday

NOTE: Federal law prohibits Public Health - Seattle & King County from releasing the names of patients (HIPAA Act) . Public health experts say we should all assume the virus may be in our community and continue safe distancing and hand washing.

Health Tip of the Day:

·       Don't wait to test if you have symptoms:  Early in the crisis, COVID-19 testing was limited. COVID-19 testing is now widely available in King County and Public Health's testing guidance has changed accordingly, in alignment with Washington State Department of Health. Anyone with these symptoms should contact a healthcare provider or a testing site to discuss the need for testing: fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea. Also anyone who has had close contact for more than 15 minutes with someone who has the virus.   https://kingcounty.gov/depts/health/covid-19/care/testing.aspx

New Developments since Last Report:

·         The VHS Class of 2020 is graduating on Saturday June 13 with a pandemic-safe approach to the event. The ceremony will begin with a car parade of seniors through Vashon town from 4 to 5 pm. Voice of Vashon will broadcast the parade live from a stage at the studio in town. Diploma pickup will take place at the end of the parade. And later at 6pm a pre-recorded virtual graduation will be broadcast on VISDTV and YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKaCc-y10MWhGB5YXBkof_A/featured   

·       Since early May the Employment Security Department has been fighting imposter fraud. That's when criminals steal personal information and use it to claim benefits in other people's names. The stolen information often comes from previous data breaches like Equifax in 2017. To be clear—no one has breached Employment Security's systems or stolen data from the agency itself. If you suspect fraud visit esd.wa.gov/fraud and use the agency’s secure reporting form. If you're a victim, you won't have to repay the money and can still apply for unemployment if you need to. On Vashon you can access free assistance for obtaining unemployment benefits, email deborah@vashonbeprepared.org or call (206) 200-3236.  

·       Free business reopening workshops continue, offered by the Chamber of Commerce and funded by VashonBePrepared. The workshops are designed to aid local businesses and organizations as they reopen under the Phase 1.5 safety conditions set by the Governor. Each participant will receive a toolkit that will include masks (provided by Masks for Vashon), hand sanitizer, floor signs for six foot distancing, and signage for the establishment's safety commitments. One option in the free toolkit will be plexiglass sneeze shields fabricated by volunteers from the Makerspace/Tool Library group. Visit https://www.vashonchamber.com/re-opening-round-tables/ to sign up for one of the workshops:
  • In-Home Services and Construction, Thursday Jun 11 at 4pm
  • Body Workers, Hair and Nail Salons, Grooming and Tattoo Artists, Monday Jun 15 at noon
  • Merchants, Galleries, Artists and Non-Essential Retail, Thursday Jun 11 at 9am
  • Recreation & Fitness, Fridays, Jun 12 and Jun 19 at 9am.
  • Restaurants, Bars and Beverages, Monday June 15 at 10am

·       Harm, Healing, Heart and Hope: A Community Gathering is a session for those who need discussion and time to work through the feelings about recent events, to be held Thursday, June 11, 2pm-3:30pm via Zoom.  Join the community gathering to grapple with th e enormity of this moment and consider the long everydayness of racism. The discussion will be led by Dr. Anu Taranath a professor at the University of Washington. She teaches about global issues, race, gender, identity, and equity.  Register at  https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4611112

Progress on Community Support Operations:

 ·    Emergency Operations Center (EOC): The EOC reached a milestone today. This is Day 90 since EOC activation on March 12.

·       Long Range Planning: The team assigned to work on long range plans formulated new Incident Command System objectives today. The objectives generally provide a foundation for EOC sections and branches to plan for a transition of activities from emergency status and move on to transferring programs and activities to community organizations such as our social service and economic recovery partners.

·       VashonBePrepared: In keeping with yesterday's statement of support by VashonBePrepared for the Black Lives Matter movement ( www.vashonbeprepared.org/VashonBePrepared/Statements ), the EOC will stand down on Friday in solidarity with Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County.  The organization will hold a silent march on Friday afternoon, June 12th, and asks for a statewide general strike ( https://bit.ly/3cNMbht ). The EOC stand down will permit our volunteers time to participate.

·       Business Support Branch: Back to business workshops continue at the Chamber of Commerce through June 15th, including free reopening toolkits for all participants. The workshops and toolkits are being funded by VashonBePrepared (see item in New Developments section).