A look at virus-related developments in Washington:
SOCIAL DISTANCING PROGRESS
Public health officials and researchers say social distancing appears to be helping slow the spread of COVID-19 in the Seattle area, where many of the first U.S. deaths occurred. Dr. Jeff Duchin, the public health officer for Seattle and King County, said Monday a new analysis by the Bellevue-based Institute of Disease Modeling provides a powerful indication that the region needs to double-down on the policies it’s already adopted. “What we’re doing now appears to be working,” Duchin said. “We need to continue this for weeks.” In two papers released Monday, the Institute for Disease Modeling acknowledged that much remains unknown about rates of infection, but based on available data and a variety of assumptions, its computer models suggest that a measure of transmission - an estimate of how many people are infected by each person who is already infected - has fallen. In late February, each person with COVID was infecting about 2.7 other people; by March 18, that number had dropped to 1.4, the researchers found. They cautioned that the numbers were rough estimates; Duchin said he felt confident saying the rate of transmission is lower than it was, but he wouldn’t put much stock in the precise figure. To see a drop in the number of new cases, the measure of transmission would have to be below 1.
CASES
There are now more than 5,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Washington state and more than 200 . For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in several weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
PRISONER RELEASE
The Washington State Supreme Court has agreed to quickly hear a lawsuit seeking the release of thousands of people incarcerated in state prisons to protect them the spread of the coronavirus. The court said Friday it will grant “accelerated review” of the case, with briefings due by mid-April. The petition to the court was filed last week by Columbia Legal Services, on behalf of five inmates in Washington prisons who have medical conditions that could make them especially vulnerable if the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps through crowded cellblocks.
GRANTS FOR NEEDY
A virus response fund supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft, the Seattle Seahawks and others say it has made more than $10 million in grants to groups working with vulnerable people in the Puget Sound area. Administered by the Seattle Foundation, , the COVID-19 Response Fund supports more than 120 organizations.
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