Recap of today’s COVID-19 news and updates

— from Emergency Operations Center, Camp Murray —

Numbers: As of 11:59 p.m. on April 19, there are 12,085 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Washington state [San Juan County has 14 cases], an increase of 295 cases in the last 24 hours. Visit the Department of Health’s website for cases by county, demographics, and more. 

ESD technical support: The Employment Security Division’s site and phone lines are experiencing extremely high volumes. Pages are loading slowly and call wait times are long. Read ESD’s statement and get technical support.  

Grief: The coming months will bring slow, measured relaxation of our physical distancing interventions. Even with a slow, phased re-opening of the state, we are likely to see COVID-19 spike again. We may open our doors, only to close them again in a matter of months. We will need to develop effective treatments for COVID-19 or a vaccine before we can stop dialing up and down the physical distancing interventions. Although it’s possible that treatments may be developed sooner, in the best case scenarios, we are still at least 12–18 months from a vaccine. Read more about COVID-19 and the stages of grief in DOH’s daily blog.  

New Spanish content: DOH shared information on DSHS’s Disaster Cash Assistance Program in today’s Spanish blog post. DOH also published a Spanish translation of the press release on recalled COVID-19 tests.  

Washington 211 COVID-19 Call Center:  Do you need information or answers to your questions and concerns about the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)? You can call 1-800-525-0127 or text 211-211 for help. You can also text the word “Coronavirus” to 211-211 to receive information and updates on your phone wherever you are. You will receive links to the latest information on COVID-19, including county-level updates, and resources for families, businesses, students, and more.