COVID-19 daily report for Mountlake Terrace and Snohomish County: April 3, 2020

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From the Washington State Department of Health

New personal protective equipment (PPE) resource in Washington state: As the state continues its efforts to fill critical PPE shortages, Battelle has delivered to Camp Murray one of its Critical Care Decontamination Systems (CCDS). Once fully installed, the system can sanitize tens of thousands of N95 masks per day so they can be reused, reducing the number the state will need to procure. Camp Murray is just the third location across the nation to have received this emerging technology. Visit the Battelle website for more information.

Gov. Inslee issues guidance for Department of Licensing operations: In recognition of disruption caused by COVID-19, the proclamations extend the renewal date of personal and commercial driver’s licenses and suspend the requirement to hold a DUI hearing within 30 days.

State lands closure extended through May 4: Department of Natural Resources, Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife are extending closure of state lands to coincide with the extension of Gov. Jay Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order.

COVID-19 Eviction Moratorium Complaint form: The Office of the Attorney General created a hotline for complaints about evictions in violation of the governor’s moratorium on certain residential evictions during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Emergency order on dental insurance: The Office of the Insurance Commissioner issues emergency order on dental insurance and clarifying grace period payments.

Mortgage assistance available for those affected by COVID-19: The Department of Financial Institutions is taking steps to assist distressed Washington homeowners who are unable to make their mortgage payments due to COVID-19 restrictions.

From the Snohomish County Health Department

Long-term care facilities 

There are currently 20 assisted living-type facilities in Snohomish County with a patient and/or staff member that has tested positive for COVID-19. There are another 5 facilities with pending results.

Staff from the Snohomish Health District have been in frequent contact with facilities, and are working with federal, state and local partners to establish broader surveillance testing for those high-risk facilities with at least one confirmed case.

This does not prevent medical directors for those facilities from testing through their regular processes. Facilities must be proactive and transparent. They should not wait for multiple people to be symptomatic, and should assume that respiratory illness is likely COVID-19 and work to rule out other illnesses.

Drive-thru testing

In the first two weeks of operations, the community-based testing site in Everett has tested 1,770 individuals. There have been some delays from the commercial lab and national call center in getting results to those tested. The Snohomish Health District is working with state and federal partners to address those issues as quickly as possible.

For the week of April 6, test appointments will be available incrementally. On Saturday, the portal will open for appointments from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, appointments for Wednesday and Thursday will be available, and appointments for Friday will be opened on Tuesday.

FEMA and HHS support for the community-based testing site will be transitioned starting April 10. The health district is working with local, state and federal partners to determine opportunities to continue drive-thru testing for continuing weeks.

More information also is available at www.snohd.org/drive-thru-testing.