Covid day by day news refreshes, November 21: What to think today about COVID-19 in the Seattle territory, Washington state and the world

10 min readNov 22, 2020

Supervisor’s note: This is a live record of COVID-19 updates from Saturday, Nov. 21, as the day unfurled. It is done being refreshed. Snap here to see all the latest news about the pandemic, and snap here to discover extra assets.

We’re refreshing this page with the most recent news about the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on the Seattle region, the U.S. what’s more, the world.

Snap here to see earlier days’ live updates and all our different Covid inclusion, and here to perceive how we track the every day spread across Washington and the world.

Airports in the U.S. logged more than 1 million travelers at checkpoints on Friday, despite officials warning against traveling while COVID-19 is surging.

The Transportation Security Administration counted 1,019,836 people at checkpoints — less than half the approximately 2.5 million travelers counted on the same day last year.

The number of flyers dropped dramatically early on in the pandemic, with counts in the hundreds of thousands and below for much of April. But the numbers have been gradually rising since, with more than 1 million travelers also recorded on Oct. 18.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is expecting between 26,000 to 29,500 passengers a day to pass through its security checkpoints during Thanksgiving week. That’s less than half of last year’s holiday peak (more than 65,000 departing passengers per day), but considerably higher than the March nadir of 2,500.

Read more about what Thanksgiving travel will look like at Sea-Tac Airport.
State DOH facing backlog of test results not yet included in case counts
A jump in COVID-19 testing has left the Washington state Department of Health (DOH) with tens of thousands of results that have not yet been included in recent case counts.

The DOH had a backlog of at least 53,000 results — including positive and negative COVID-19 tests and some for other diseases — as of Saturday, according to a statement from the department. The results had accumulated in the past few days, meaning the number of new cases announced those days were undercounts.

The state’s disease reporting system has the capacity to process about 33,000 test results per day. But DOH is currently receiving anywhere from 30,000 to 50,000 results a day, according to its statement.

DOH will temporarily pause publicly reporting negative COVID-19 tests to address the backlog. The pause is currently intended to last a week, said spokesperson Frank Ameduri.

The state is hoping to improve capacity, as the spread of COVID-19 and demand for testing are expected to increase in coming weeks. In Seattle, testing centers have been overwhelmed by a spike in demand before the holidays.

— Asia Fields
7:10 pm, Nov. 21, 2020
Officials warn Thanksgiving gatherings unsafe, families adapt their plans
Pavochon, a Puerto Rican-style turkey from Addo, one of many restaurants in the Seattle area offering Thanksgiving meals to go this year. (Ellen M. Banner / The Seattle Times)
Pavochon, a Puerto Rican-style turkey from Addo, one of many restaurants in the Seattle area… (Ellen M. Banner / The Seattle Times) More
With Thanksgiving approaching and COVID-19 cases continuing to spike, officials in Washington state and across the country are urging caution.

“If people travel, or gather for Thanksgiving celebrations or other get-togethers, we could see an explosion in COVID-19, causing human suffering unlike anything we’ve experienced in modern times,” Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer for Public Health — Seattle & King County, said Friday.

The state Department of Health (DOH) is calling for residents to celebrate with only their immediate households and to not get tested just for the purpose of attending a gathering, while testing sites in Seattle have been stretched thin in recent weeks. People who have symptoms or believe they’ve been exposed should still get tested, according to DOH.

The New York Times asked more than 600 epidemiologists about their Thanksgiving plans, and about 80% said they won’t gather with people outside their households, with others describing going to great lengths to do so safely. Washington families, including Gov. Jay Inslee’s, have adapted their plans as well.

If you’re stuck at home for the holiday, here are some cherished family recipes. If you’re not in the mood for cooking, here’s a list of restaurants open for takeout, some of which are taking preorders for Thanksgiving dinner. And here are tips on creating memorable moments with loved ones, even from afar.

— Asia Fields
6:00 pm, Nov. 21, 2020
Experimental drug given to Trump to treat covid-19 wins FDA clearance
The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday granted emergency authorization to the experimental antibody treatment given to President Donald Trump last month when he developed COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

The drug, made by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, is designed to prevent infected people from developing severe illness. Instead of waiting for the body to develop its own protective immune response, the drug imitates the body’s natural defenses. It is the second drug of this type — called a monoclonal antibody — to be cleared for COVID-19.

The drug is complicated and time-consuming to make; initially, it will be in short supply. The shortages, coupled with the complexities of administering the intravenous medication, have raised concerns about whether people with the greatest need will be able to get it.

Read the full story here.

— The Washington Post
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4:30 pm, Nov. 21, 2020
State DOH confirms 1,717 more COVID-19 cases in Washington
State health officials confirmed 1,717 new COVID-19 cases in Washington state on Saturday, although an increase in testing has led to reporting delays.

The update brings the state’s totals to 141,260 cases, according to the state Department of Health (DOH) data dashboard. The data is as of 11:59 p.m. Friday and is an undercount, according to DOH.

DOH does not report deaths on weekends. As of yesterday’s update, 2,619 people had died of COVID-19 in Washington state, meaning 1.9% of people diagnosed in the state have died.

Per the DOH, 9,765 people have been hospitalized in the state due to the virus. Statewide, nearly 2.9 million COVID-19 tests have been administered.

In King County, Washington’s most populous, DOH confirmed 518 new coronavirus cases, bringing the county’s total to 37,631 diagnoses and 847 deaths.

— Asia Fields
2:46 pm, Nov. 21, 2020
How might the pandemic change Seattle’s homeless shelters?
Dodge Nearing Jr., 66, a Vietnam veteran diagnosed with schizophrenia, has been homeless for much of his adult life. Thanks to Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC), he’s been housed for more than a decade, but at times he’s stayed in the Morrison Hotel’s congregate shelter, which closed in March. DESC plans to phase out group living facilities in favor of more permanent supportive housing, like the studio apartments where Near is now living.
(Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times)
Dodge Nearing Jr., 66, a Vietnam veteran diagnosed with schizophrenia, has been homeless for much of his… (Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times) More
For the first winter in 41 years, the main floor of the old Morrison Hotel in downtown Seattle is quiet. Before the pandemic, hundreds of homeless people per night would be sleeping on bunks and mats to escape increasingly frigid temperatures.

For four decades, the hotel has temporarily housed people who struggle in other shelters, because of mental illness, addiction or physical disability.

But now, it’s empty: The inhabitants were moved to another hotel, in Renton, as the pandemic forced shelter operators to distance residents. There, they stay in individual rooms. And the nonprofit that runs the Morrison wants to keep it that way.

Dan Malone, executive director of Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) , has vowed never again to open a large-scale shelter where several people share close living quarters — often called “congregate shelter.”

Now, he’s pressuring the city and county to do the same for thousands of congregate shelter beds locally.

“We have been disenchanted with the model for a long time, but never found the strength to insist on making it humane until the pandemic,” Malone said. “Now we plan not to go back to that way of doing things.”

Read the full story here.

Covid day by day news refreshes, November 21: What to think today about COVID-19 in the Seattle territory, Washington state and the world

Written by Ixkegolwhavikkifsa