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Image from The Seattle Times (today's infographic should be available by 7 or 8 pm at the link)
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Washington & King County
As of last night at 11:59 pm
Statewide: 42,304 confirmed cases (+547), 1,404 deaths (+5)
Total tests conducted: 718,234 (+9,960)
King County: 12,213 confirmed cases (+136), 624 deaths (+0)
King County Key Indicators (last updated 7/7 at 2:47 pm)
U.S.
Today
3,355,457 confirmed cases (+58,858), 135,235 deaths (+351)
Total tests conducted: 41,764,557 (+760,282)
The world
Today
12,964,809 confirmed cases (+196,775), 570,288 deaths (+3,634)
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Mayor Durkan and Chief Best, feeling pressured by the news last week that 7 of the 9 City Councilmembers have committed in theory to defunding SPD's 2021 budget by 50% and cutting 50% from the remaining portion of its 2020 budget, held a joint press conference to announce their own roughly 20% cut to the department's 2021 budget, which would be accomplished by moving 911 dispatch, parking enforcement, and the Office of Police Accountability into other departments; reducing overtime; and not hiring for many vacant positions. Erica C. Barnett fact-checked some of the dubious claims that Durkan and Best made during the press conference, while Kevin Schofield of Seattle City Council Insight looked at the similarities between Durkan's plan and the City Council's.
The City Council will spend the rest of July working out the details of the City's 2020 mid-year budget rebalance, which originated as a response to a pandemic-related loss of revenue but has evolved into an exercise in cutting the remainder of SPD's 2020 budget in half in response to the demands of the protesters. A final vote on the rebalanced 2020 budget is currently scheduled for August 3rd. [Seattle City Council Insight]
A King County Superior Court judge ruled that a recall petition against Durkan can proceed to the signature-gathering phase, which would give supporters of the effort 6 months to gather more than 50,000 signatures from Seattle voters in order to qualify it for the ballot. [Seattle Times]
And twelve protesters filed financial claims (a first step before filing a lawsuit) against the city of Seattle, King County, and Washington state over what they say was police officers' use of excessive force against peaceful protesters during the recent Black Lives Matter protests. [South Seattle Emerald]
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Washington state reported 1,101 new cases yesterday, which was a new daily high; the number of statewide deaths, while rising, doesn't appear to be spiking yet (although the state removed 39 deaths from their official numbers yesterday, which caused the total to decrease). In Seattle and King County our case numbers are down slightly after a spike in late June, and our death count remains at near all-time lows, with Seattle doing better than King County overall on both metrics.
This afternoon Inslee expanded his existing moratorium on allowing counties to proceed from Phase 3 to Phase 4 into a statewide moratorium through July 28th on any counties proceeding to the next phase in their reopening process, citing the dramatic increase in cases across the state. Inslee also said that if infections and deaths continue to worsen across the state that he could start to roll counties back to earlier phases. [Seattle Times]
The Moderna vaccine trial that's currently underway in Seattle announced promising results from its small first phase, with preliminary data indicating that the vaccine is safe and capable of producing an immmune response greater than that found in people who have previously had COVID-19. [KNKX]
The teacher's union for Seattle Public Schools said that Superintendent Denise Juneau announced her reopening plan for the fall without talking to the union about it or going through the collective bargaining process that will be a necessary part of teachers returning to schools in person. [KUOW]
And David Kroman looked at the potential looming homelessness crisis that could result if something isn't done to help the hundreds of thousands of renters across the state who will be at risk of foreclosure by their landlords if Governor Inslee's statewide eviction moratorium is allowed to expire on August 1st (Seattle already has an eviction moratorium in place through December). [Crosscut]
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National COVID-19 and Protest News
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Deaths began trending upwards in states across the country, as runaway outbreaks continued across large swaths of the South and the West. Florida recorded 15,300 new cases on Sunday, more than any state in America has previously recorded on a single day; and the governors of California and Oregon rolled back their states' reopening plans, once again closing indoor businesses and limiting the size of indoor gatherings. [Washington Post]
"The White House is seeking to discredit Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's leading infectious disease expert, as President Donald Trump works to marginalize him and his dire warnings about the shortcomings of the U.S. coronavirus response." [NBC News]
According to a new study, 5.4 million Americans lost their health insurance between February and May due to pandemic-related job losses. [New York Times]
The federal deficit for June alone was $864 billion, larger than it usually is for the entire year; and this year's deficit overall is already $2.7 trillion, nearly twice as high as the previous annual record of $1.4 trillion set during the Great Recession. [NPR]
In the face of dozens of lawsuits from states and universities, the administration dropped its plan to deport international students who enroll in online-only classes at colleges and universities this fall. [CNN]
And federal officers who were sent to Portland apparently against the wishes of the mayor and city council fractured the skull of a peaceful protester with a rubber bullet Saturday night. [Washington Post]
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British experts say turn OFF air conditioning to reduce risk of spreading coronavirus as WHO admits pathogen can spread through tiny floating droplets [Daily Mail UK, 1.5 million shares]
Trump Denies Federal Aid Request From Minnesota After Democrat Governor, Mayor Fail To Stop Damage, Report Says [The Daily Wire, 1.2 million shares]
Daughter of Texas cop killed in ambush slammed for tweeting #bluelivesmatter [New York Post, 1.1 million shares]
American Passports Are Worthless Now [Medium, 866k shares]
Nikki Haley makes the case to reelect Trump, warns 'we will lose our rule of law' if Biden wins [Fox News, 718k shares]
Florida shatters coronavirus records with almost 15,300 new cases [NBC News, 709k shares]
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If you want to see what happens when a bunch of people on Tik Tok recreate a 20-second scene from a 2001 movie called The Princess Diaries that apparently exists, except using their cats as stand-ins for a phone (and, trust me, you do)...all you have to do is click right here.
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