Live Update: Coronavirus developments in Tri-Cities and Washington state

Here’s the latest on what’s happening around the Tri-Cities and the state related to the coronavirus pandemic.

WSU Tri-Cities blood drive

To help stem the drop in donations in the wake of the coronavirus disease, Washington State University Tri-Cities is holding a blood drive from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, March 27.

Healthy adults in the Tri-Cities are encouraged to donate to help make up for the serious need for blood because more than 200 blood drives in Oregon and Washington have been canceled in recent weeks.

While blood isn’t needed to treat COVID-19 cases, the virus doesn’t stop the continued demand for blood supplies for many other healthcare needs, including cancer treatments, trauma accidents and complications from childbirth.

“The need is actually increasing with the fewer donors that we’re seeing right now,” Loomis said.

“We’re opening up the blood drive to the entire community, not just students, hoping that will bring more donors,” Jennifer Martinez, a WSU nursing student and student coordinator for the blood drive, said in a news release. “We’ve been in contact with the Red Cross every day, helping make sure that things are going to be ready and prepared for them and for donors.”

The campus and the Red Cross are taking extra care to address concerns about the transmission of COVID-19, said the release.

Staff will change gloves between each donor, hand sanitizer will be available in all areas, and donor beds will be sanitized after every blood collection. Donors will have their temperature taken before giving blood, and staff will also have a temperature check before starting work.

Participants will be kept six feet apart. And custodial staff will be on campus to provide extra sanitization, it said.

The blood drive will be in the Consolidated Information Center, 2770 Crimson Way, Richland.

To sign up for the WSU Tri-Cities blood drive and to see other blood drives in the Tri-Cities area visit redcrossblood.org and use the zip code search to locate a drive.

Youth litter crews

The Washington state Department of Ecology will not be hiring 14- to 17-year-old Mid-Columbia students this summer to pick up litter, as it has since 1975.

Because of the novel coronavirus and the uncertainty surrounding the remaining school year, the state will depend on its adult litter crews, who are already hired and working in some areas of the state.

The crews are adhering to social distancing requirements.

The closure of K-12 schools across the state has limited the ability of teens to prepare their applications for summer litter crews, including obtaining required references.

The Department of Ecology also is limited in its ability to schedule interviews with applicants during the coronavirus outbreak and to hold mandatory meetings for teen workers, that typically have more than 50 people.

Social services

Community Action Connections at 720 W. Court St. in Pasco is closing its office to the public as of Tuesday, March 24, until further notice.

The social service nonprofit helps low-income families and individuals identify options and alternatives for self-sufficiency by connecting them to employment, housing and childcare services.

They said CAC staff will continue to work to meet the community’s needs by phone and email. Call 509-545-4042 during regular

business hours or email info@bfcac.org.

State campgrounds close

The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Natural Resources announced over the weekend the closure of all state campgrounds across the state through April 30.

The closure includes cabins and yurts.

No new campers will be allowed into parks or public lands beginning Monday, March 23. Current campers will be phased out following instructions from land officials.

Day use areas and trails remain open.

Because of the volume of people visiting Washington’s ocean beaches, they are asking the public to avoid those areas. People should continue to practice social distancing when recreating outdoors.

Oregon also has closed its campgrounds.

Boeing suspends production

Boeing announced a temporary suspension of production operations at its Puget Sound area facilities in light of the state of emergency in Washington state and the spread of the coronavirus in the region.

Boeing plans to begin reducing production activity on Monday and projects the suspension of such operations to begin on Wednesday, March 25. The suspension will last 14 days, during which Boeing will continue to monitor government guidance and actions on COVID-19.

During this time, Boeing will conduct additional deep cleaning activities at impacted sites and establish rigorous criteria for return to work.

Disaster aid now available to all Washington state small businesses

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has amended its original disaster declaration to apply to all Washington small businesses, regardless of county, the Washington State Department of Commerce announced Sunday.

Low-interest loans for working capital are now available to any small businesses suffering economic fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak. SBA customer service representatives are available to answer questions about the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and explain the application process.

Small businesses, private non-profit organizations of any size, small agricultural cooperatives and small aquaculture enterprises that have been financially impacted as a direct result of the COVID-19 since Jan. 31 may qualify for economic injury disaster loans of up to $2 million to help meet financial obligations and operating expenses, which could have been met had the disaster not occurred.

Loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. Eligibility for economic injury disaster loans is based on the financial impact of the COVID-19. The interest rate is 3.75% for small businesses and 2.75% for private non-profit organizations.

SBA offers loans with long-term repayments in order to keep payments affordable, up to a maximum of 30 years and are available to entities without the financial ability to offset the adverse impact without hardship.

Applicants may apply online, receive additional disaster assistance information and download applications at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance.

Inslee names head of state health care response

Gov. Jay Inslee has named retired Navy Vice Admiral Raquel C. Bono the Washington state director for COVID-19 Health System Response Management. She is the first woman surgeon in the military to hold the rank of vice admiral, and the appointment is effective immediately.

Currently a senior fellow with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Bono is the former chief executive officer and director for the Defense Heath Agency. While there, she led a joint, integrated support agency that enables all branches of the U.S. military medical services to provide heath care to those in combat.

Bono will advise on actions needed to address the strain across the health care system. She will work with acute care facilities, long-term care facilities, clinics, tribal facilities, and the federal government to assess and address the greatest needs.

She will work to ensure medical staffing needs are met while also developing standard protocols across facilities and coordinate with the state Emergency Operations Center to operationalize statewide efforts.

“Vice Admiral Bono will help bolster our existing coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic across our state’s health care system,” Inslee said in a statement.

“She brings an impressive medical background, a long and distinguished military career and a deep understanding of complex medical delivery systems. Her expertise will help us ensure that we can meet the needs of Washingtonians who are sick, or will become ill from COVID-19.”

Trump activates National Guard in Washington, California, New York

The U.S. Navy hospital ship Mercy will go to Los Angeles to help California deal with a critical shortage of hospital beds due to coronavirus patients, President Donald Trump announced on Sunday.

He also announced that he had activated the National Guard in California, Washington state and New York under an arrangement that puts governors of each state in control of those forces, but all the costs will be paid by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Medical equipment and supplies including respirators, surgical masks and gowns, face shields, coveralls and gloves were on the way, he said. Disaster declarations were approved for California, Washington and New York, making federal funding available for emergency measures.

While Washington state has more COVID-19 cases, the need for hospital beds was greater in California, FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor said.

“While I am very disappointed the USNS Mercy is not coming to WA, I appreciate that federal field hospitals are on the way to help with increased medical needs,” Inslee said in a tweeted statement. “My staff and I will keep working until we have the resources necessary to care for all Washingtonians.”

This story was originally published March 23, 2020 at 12:52 PM.