Dear Friends:

Today’s update includes the outline for steps to reopen our state, assistance and resources for animal owners as well as food banks and pantries in King County, and a call to support local small businesses during this crisis.

Governor Inslee Outlines Steps to Reopen Washington State

Governor Inslee addressed our state to discuss the process for relaxing restrictions and getting our economy and people moving again. The process will be more like the turn of a dial than the flip of a switch.

According to Governor Inslee, Washington state will ease restrictions step-by-step, informed by the best data available. As some activities are allowed to resume in limited capacities, the state will continue to require things like physical distancing, rigorous cleaning and sanitization, personal protective equipment, teleworking and screening for possible infection. All these steps, though burdensome, will make sure we continue to see case numbers and most importantly, deaths, decrease. If you would like to watch his full address, you can do so here.

Supporting Local Businesses

All local businesses, particularly restaurants, are being squeezed by the stay home, stay healthy order. Many of these restaurants are the centers of our neighborhoods providing jobs and serving as gathering places for social and business meetings. Under the stay home, stay healthy order, you can still order takeout at most of your favorite restaurants. Please consider ordering out this week if you have the chance, to support the restaurants and their workers in your community, to make sure they can survive this crisis.



Last week, I picked up lunch at one of our newer, family owned restaurants, The Chopped Leaf. Thank you, Veronica and Celeste, for your great service (and your smiles!).

Assistance for King County Pet Owners

Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC) has joined a regional effort to ensure pet owners are able to keep their animals happy and healthy by addressing food insecurity in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through the generous support of GreaterGood.org, a national nonprofit that protects people, pets and the planet, Seattle Humane worked with a team of shelter partners to create a distribution hub to get ongoing donations of pet food and supplies to those struggling financially.

King County has leased a warehouse to store pallets of pet food and supplies, which will be distributed across the state. The groups have created an updated interactive map to help pet owners find distribution sites around the region. Pet owners who are unable to visit a physical location can visit this link to fill out and submit a Pet Food Bank request form. You can click here to learn more about King County’s Pet Assistance Program.

Food Bank and Pantry Resources

Due to the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order and other related issues from the COVID-19 response, food banks and pantries are seeing increased demand for their services and more difficulty getting resources to fill that need. State, county, and city Emergency Management agencies are taking steps to get food resources – both products and volunteer support – to where the needs are not being met. If you know of food banks and pantries in your jurisdictions that need support, please have them get in touch with their local or the King County Emergency Operations Center. A full list and contact information can be found here.

Hello4Culture Going Digital

Hello4Culture will be going digital so they can connect with constituents in these uncertain times. They will be hosting weekly Zoom calls at 12:00 p.m. on Fridays to share information and resources as well as answer questions.

Guests will need a Zoom account to participate. You can visit zoom.us to set up your account and download Zoom for desktop or mobile. To keep the Zoom sessions secure, guests need to register here.

UW Medicine Data Institute Projections

On Friday, UW Medicine’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation released an updated COVID-19 forecast. UW Medicine’s models have been used by policy makers across the country to evaluate the ongoing COVID-19 response. You can view the projections here.



King County Case Update

As of today, Seattle – King County Public Health was reporting 70 new confirmed cases, bringing the total number to 5,449 cases in King County, as well as 7 new confirmed deaths, bringing the total in the County to 379.

Stay In. Stay Healthy. Social Distance. Stay Strong.

Pete von Reichbauer
King County Councilmember