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
(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
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
(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:
(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
Cases in Seattle were up 48% in the second half of March — but are still considered to be at low levels
PLEASE HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE!
Subscribe to CHS to help us pay writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.
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
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
The Seattle Public Schools system is encouraging masking to continue but says it will lift its requirements on the first school day following the end of the state’s mandate.
Until March 14, current masking protocols will remain in place. Masks will continue to be required for all students, staff, and visitors on all SPS campuses and school buses through March 13. We are pleased that COVID-19 cases continue to fall in SPS schools and King County. However, there may be times when we will need to bring back effective mitigations if there is an increase in community, classroom, or school-wide transmission. SPS will continue to monitor COVID-19 rates in our schools
Saturday brings the end of Washington’s COVID-19 indoor masking requirements ending a period of around 600 days of mandatory indoor masking in the state. Washington didn’t put statewide mask requirements into place until late June 2020. New federal guidance calls only for indoor mask usage in areas with high COVID-19 activity.
Public Health says the county is classified at a “low COVID-19 community level” under current metrics. Continue reading
Kids who have become accustomed to the face coverings probably won’t care but children at Seattle Public Schools will be required to continue wearing masks after the state’s requirements for the face coverings is lifted next week, the district has said in an update to students and families.
“Future decisions on mask use within the district will be made in partnership with public health, and its implementation will be established after consultation and mutually agreed upon guidelines that are reached through bargaining with our labor partners,” the district said in a statement. Continue reading
Capitol Hill mask fashion may never go away
There is a new date for the great un-masking of Washington state. And this time, King County and Seattle are clearly lined up to join after Gov. Jay Inslee announced this week that the state will drop its indoor masking requirements following revised guidelines from the CDC.
Starting March 12th, face masks will no longer be required indoors in Seattle, across King County, and throughout Washington. Here’s Public Health on the new COVID-19 milestone:
Based on our current downward hospitalization and case rates, our review of CDC’s guidance, and today’s state action, King County’s local indoor mask order will end concurrently with the state’s order–after March 11, 2022. In addition, King County will not be extending a local mask order for schools and childcares beyond the state’s order.
“We believe that ending the indoor mask order ten days earlier than the state previously announced will not make a significant difference for our local King County disease trends,” local health officials said in the Public Health announcement. Continue reading
