Live updates: US health system ‘wasn’t ready’ for outbreak, says Mayor Durkan
Seattle City Councilmembers are looking to accelerate plans to levy a tax on big businesses, while Mayor Jenny Durkan sheds light on how Seattle responded to the coronavirus outbreak in its early days.
Confirmed coronavirus cases across Washington state
Follow live updates today below.
Wednesday:
9:44am – The City of Tukwila will reportedly be cutting wages for all city employees by 10% starting on May 1, citing shortfalls brought on by the coronavirus crisis.
This will include salaries for first responders according to KIRO 7 reporter Amy Clancy, who have labeled the move as “shocking,” and “terrible for morale.”
9:10am – Sitting down with the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, Mayor Jenny Durkan detailed Seattle’s experience operating on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis.
As the pandemic began to ramp up in Western Washington, things were difficult for cities like Seattle, which, according to Durkan, were failed by the federal government in a number of ways.
“The public health system wasn’t ready for this,” she noted. “There’s no question that our country was not set up for a pandemic of this size.”
8:39am – Temporary changes made to parking regulations in Seattle will now remain in effect “until further notice.” That includes the suspension of enforcement for 72-hour parking violations, as well as most cases of booting and towing vehicles.
8:15am – For the first time since World War II, Wimbledon has been canceled.
The iconic tennis tournament was originally scheduled to run from June 29 to July 12. Outside of its World War II cancellation, the only other time the event had previously been put on hold was during World War I.
7:12am – Rumors, disinformation, and myths about the coronavirus have been everywhere in recent weeks, as scam artists have sought to profit off the fear generated by the outbreak.
6:29am – Gov. Jay Inslee will soon deploy the National Guard into service in Washington to “provide important help to our communities to ensure our critical food banks remain stocked and operational.”
Inslee’s office has also emphasized that that the guard will not be involved in law enforcement in any capacity, and it will be strictly limited to providing aid.
5:50am – CNN went inside Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center to get a firsthand look at how the West Coast’s leading trauma center is prepared for the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. Watch the full rundown from CNN here, and read more about measures the hospital has taken from MyNorthwest in this report.
5:05am – Seattle City Councilmembers Kshama Sawant and Tammy Morales announced Tuesday that they plan to accelerate their plan to levy a tax on big businesses to provide emergency relief for low-income workers affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
In mid-March, Sawant intimated that she planned to repurpose her “Tax Amazon” campaign to provide that relief. The tax would be levied on big businesses in Seattle, raise “at least $500 million for coronavirus emergency relief,” and then be continued as an ongoing tax on big business for social housing measures and Green New Deal policies.
She and Morales plan to have the tax provide “immediate emergency cash assistance for up to 100,000 households and individuals impacted by the social and economic consequences resulting from this pandemic.” They will be holding a virtual press conference on Wednesday at 11 a.m. providing further details on their plan.
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