King County
Today
14,047 confirmed cases (+213), 638 deaths (+2)
King County Key Indicators (last updated 7/21 at 1:41 pm)
Washington
As of last night at 11:59 pm
50,824 confirmed cases (+815), 1,495 deaths (+13)
Total tests conducted: 883,982 (+13,219)
U.S.
Today
4,092,928 confirmed cases (+75,193), 137,655 deaths (+1,178)
Total tests conducted: 49,838,094 (+929,838)
The world
Today
15,296,926 confirmed cases (+284,196), 628,903 deaths (+9,753)
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As Washington state crossed 50,000 confirmed coronavirus infections and public health experts warned that we could be on track for "Florida-like" conditions in the next few weeks without further action being taken, Governor Inslee still refused to move any counties backwards in their reopening phases, but he did add some additional dining restrictions (see graphic above) that will go into effect statewide on July 30th. At the same press conference, Inslee also announced that he'll be extending the statewide eviction moratorium through October 15th, still far short of the extension through March 31st that housing affordability advocates in the state legislature are calling for in order to give the legislature time to craft permanent legislation in next year's legislative session.
"King County's top health official warned residents Friday that the current seven-day average of new coronavirus cases has reached the highest it's been since the beginning of April, and urged community members to start making 'long-term fundamental changes.'" [Seattle Times]
Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Denise Juneau responded to both the worsening situation in King County and Washington state and public pressure from the teachers union by announcing her recommendation that Seattle Public Schools adopt a fully remote school year in the fall, contradicting her earlier statement that the district would resume classes with a hybrid model combining in-person instruction with online instruction. [Seattle Times]
New statewide unemployment claims were down 27% week over week, even as they rose 8% nationally--but the $600/week federal unemployment payments from the CARES Act that have been providing critical financial support to millions of Americans are set to end this weekend, with no deal in sight for their replacement from Congress as Senate Republicans failed to come to an agreement with the White House on the matter.
Two months after the idea was first suggested by City Councilmember Dan Strauss, Mayor Durkan announced a plan to allow restaurants to apply starting next week for permits to close streets outside their businesses to allow for outdoor dining...which would then be granted at some unspecified time in the future, likely leaving very little time in the Seattle summer weather for interested restaurants to be able to take advantage of the new rules. [The Stranger]
And David Kroman looked at the negative health impacts of the King County Jail's attempts to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks among its inmates, which has led to conditions for many inmates that resemble solitary confinement. [Crosscut]
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After the federal courthouse downtown was vandalized during protests last Sunday, federal agents from an agency within the Department of Homeland Security arrived in the Seattle area on Thursday to stand by in case they're needed to protect federal buildings during planned protests this weekend--the same rationale behind the recent deployment of federal agents in downtown Portland. According to Mayor Durkan, "neither the city nor the police department knows where the agents are, or any other specifics about their presence." [KING 5, South Seattle Emerald, New York Times, Seattle Times]
On Wednesday night a group of 100-150 protesters marched from Cal Anderson Park through various parts of Capitol Hill, breaking the windows of the Uncle Ike's pot shop on 15th, a Key Bank branch, and the Whole Foods on Madison; looting a vintage shop owned by the wife of one of the police officers who shot Charleena Lyles; and starting a fire at the intersection of 11th & Pike. According to an SPD Blotter post, no arrests were made and no police officers were injured. [South Seattle Emerald, Capitol Hill Seattle Blog, SPD Blotter]
In a dramatic last-minute ruling Friday night, a federal judge in Seattle issued a temporary restraining order preventing the City's newly passed ban on tear gas, blast balls, and other non-lethal crowd control methods from going into effect on Sunday as planned, in response to a request from the Department of Justice to block the law. [Seattle Times, Crosscut]
The driver who killed one protester on I-5 last month and seriously injured another pleaded not guilty to vehicular homicide and assault, and his family released a statement supporting the protests and the victims. [KING 5]
And a King County Superior Court judge ruled that five news outlets have to comply with a subpoena and release unpublished video and photos of the May 30th protests in downtown Seattle to SPD, as part of the department's investigation into the burning of several police vehicles and the theft of multiple police guns. [Seattle Times]
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National COVID-19 and Protest News
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As the U.S. passed 4 million confirmed infections and Florida reported 173 deaths, its highest daily count yet during the pandemic, President Trump announced that the in-person component of the Republican National Convention, which had been moved to Jacksonville after the original host city of Charlotte, North Carolina refused to allow it to proceed with no social distancing measures in place, has now been cancelled entirely.
Following intense political pressure from Trump, the CDC issued new guidance for school reopenings that's more in line with the administration's call for full in-person reopening of schools for the 2020-21 school year, although the substance of its recommendations remained largely unchanged. [New York Times]
"The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a request from a church in Nevada to block enforcement of state restrictions on attendance at religious services." [New York Times]
And "President Trump announced on Wednesday that the Justice Department would send hundreds of additional federal agents into cities to confront a rise in shootings and other violence, escalating his dark rhetoric about urban crime and bashing local elected officials who have been wary of intervention by his administration." [New York Times]
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Florida's largest teachers union sues state over reopening schools [NBC News, 1.7 million shares]
[OP-ED] Trump’s Occupation of American Cities Has Begun [New York Times, 1.1 million shares]
A Navy vet asked federal officers in Portland to remember their oaths. Then they broke his hand. [Washington Post, 1.0 million shares]
Schools Beat Earlier Plagues With Outdoor Classes. We Should, Too. [New York Times, 1.0 million shares]
As Trump Calls for Schools to Fully Reopen, His Son’s School Says It Will Not [New York Times, 981k shares]
Trump may deploy federal agents to Chicago this week: is Portland-style response an option? [Chicago Sun Times, 801k shares]
Giants' pitcher Sam Coonrod refuses to kneel during Black Lives Matter moment because of faith: 'I'm a Christian' [Fox News, 621k shares]
North Carolina Teachers’ Union Demands Benefits For Illegal Immigrants Before Returning To School [Daily Wire, 575k shares]
I'm including this one as an example of several overlapping storylines from the right combined into one piece.
Fauci says "serious threats" have been made against him and his wife and daughters [CBS News, 404k shares]
Covid-19 vaccine probably won't be 'widely available' until 2021, Fauci says [CNN, 343k shares]
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Someone on the Internet put together a meme version of "2020 (so far), as summarized by The Princess Bride."
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