Doomsday

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Seattle Vipers... Still gonna have their game this weekend. But with NO fans allowed.
 

Scot

Pro Bowler
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They better get this shit under control by September

I don’t give two shits about the NBA season being cancelled/postponed

But don’t fuck with my Cowboy games ya bastards!
 

InternetKing

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News from Representative Jayapal

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Dear Internetking:

Given growing concerns regarding the spread of COVID-19, on Monday I held a Telephone Town Hall and Briefing with Kirsten Wysen from King County Public Health. Click here to listen to the recording.

Over 4,000 of your neighbors and fellow constituents dialed in and asked over 120 questions. I have highlighted just a few of these questions and answers below – along with some important new updates from state and local government:

What is COVID-19 and how is it different from the flu?

COVID-19, formerly known as coronavirus, is a virus spreading from person-to-person contact in the United States and abroad. While symptoms of COVID-19 – which may include fever, cough, and shortness of breath – are similar to those caused by a flu or cold, there appear to be some significant differences between a typical influenza virus and COVID-19 including incubation period, speed of transmission, and impact on vulnerable populations. As we continue to learn about this new virus, it is important to take it seriously and not dismiss it as one might dismiss a common cold. You can read more about COVID-19 at the CDC website.

Is it safe to attend large gatherings?

State and local officials have issued prohibitions today on attending large gatherings. Earlier today, Governor Jay Inslee announced new community strategies and social distancing plans. Starting today, events that take place in King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties with more than 250 people are prohibited by the state. This order applies to gatherings for social, spiritual and recreational activities. These include but are not limited to: community, civic, public, leisure, faith-based, or sporting events; parades; concerts; festivals; conventions; fundraisers and similar activities.
In addition to the Governor’s order, King County issued a parallel local order to prohibit gatherings of 250 people or more, as well as a prohibition on events with fewer than 250 people unless strict public health measures are followed.

How is the virus spread? What should I do to stay safe?

COVID-19 is most commonly spread from an infected person to others through droplets by coughing and sneezing, close personal contact (such as touching or shaking hands), and touching a surface with the virus on it and then touching your mouth, nose or eyes before washing your hands.

To reduce your risk of catching or spreading the virus, practice excellent personal hygiene:

  • Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
  • Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
  • Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, then throw the tissue in the trash and wash your hands.
  • Clean and disinfect commonly touched surfaces like doorknobs and light switches.
  • Stay at home and away from others if you are feeling ill.
  • Follow the recommendations of your local health department.
Please note that being Chinese or Asian American does not increase the chance of getting or spreading COVID-19. People – including those of Asian descent – who have not recently traveled to Asia or been in contact with a person who is a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19 are not at greater risk of acquiring and spreading COVID-19 than other people.

According to the CDC, stigma and discrimination can occur when people associate an infectious disease, such as COVID-19, with a specific population or nationality, even though not everyone in that population or from that region has the disease and members of particular groups are at no greater risk for contracting it. Two weeks ago, I joined my colleagues in the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) to dispel the stigma, misinformation, and conspiracy theories that are disparaging and negatively affecting the Asian American community in the United States and abroad.

What do we do if we have been exposed to the virus?

If you are in King County and believe you were exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19, or if you are a healthcare provider with questions about COVID-19, contact the King County novel coronavirus call center: 206-477-3977. The call center will be open daily from 8 AM to 7 PM PST.

If you do not live in King County or if you have general questions about COVID-19 or Washington State’s response, please call the Washington State Department of Health call center: 1-800-525-0127 and press #.

This is a time to practice social distancing to protect older or medically fragile friends and relatives. As noted above, you are encouraged to refrain from shaking hands, high fives, and hugs, and stand at least six feet away from other people out of an abundance of caution. You should also wash your hands frequently and thoroughly.

Will schools be closed?

In light of Governor Inslee's request for citizens to practice social distancing measures, Seattle Public Schools have announced plans to close for a minimum of 14 days, per CDC guidance. Beginning tomorrow (Thursday, March 12), all Seattle Public School building activities including school day instruction, childcare, health services, enrichment, etc. are canceled until further notice. More information will be communicated tomorrow, and an emergency food plan will be put into place on Monday, March 16 for all students. Please check the SPS Coronavirus 2019 Update webpage for new information.
For public schools outside of Seattle, the Governor is asking school districts to make contingency plans around how they could provide services to families in need if schools closed for several weeks. Potential issues to address include free and reduced-price breakfast and lunch, students completing school work at home, and child care options.In Congress, I have co-sponsored legislation – the Maintaining Essential Access to Lunch for Students (MEALS) Act – to protect students’ access to school meal benefits during school closures. Millions of children rely on free or low-cost meals at schools across the nation, and we have a moral responsibility to ensure these kids still have access to food and meals during this crisis. If passed and signed into law, this bill will give the USDA the flexibility it needs to accept requests from states to continue meal programs even if schools are shut down because of COVID-19.

How are tests being administered?

Test availability is being rapidly expanded in Washington. Our State Department of Health currently has capacity to test 200 people per day. The University of Washington recently began offering testing as well, with a capacity to test 1500 people per day, and a number of commercial labs are also offering testing.
Please remember that not everyone needs to be tested. If you begin experiencing symptoms, please contact your primary care doctor first. They can best advise you whether you require testing. Do not go to an emergency room unless essential as we need to preserve emergency room resources for those who need critical care.

If you are uninsured or are otherwise worried about the cost of testing, the State has taken specific measures to ensure that no one faces financial barriers to accessing the COVID test:
  • Special enrollment period to sign up for health insurance if you are uninsured: In response to the potential growth of Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, the Washington Health Benefit Exchange (Exchange) announced a limited-time special enrollment period for qualified individuals who are currently without insurance. This special enrollment period (SEP), that runs through April 8, 2020, will allow uninsured individuals 30 days to enroll in health insurance coverage through Washington Healthplanfinder.
  • Access to COVID testing: Washington State Insurance Commissioner Kreidler instructed health insurers to waive copays and deductibles for people needing testing for novel coronavirus, COVID-19, to ensure that cost is not a barrier for accessing the test.
What are you doing to support workers and address the economic impacts of the virus?

I, along with my colleagues on the Education and Labor Committee, have introduced several important pieces of legislation:
  • The COVID-19 Worker Protection Act of 2020, will protect the safety of healthcare workers caring for patients with COVID-19. This legislation would require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to issue an emergency temporary safety standard to ensure health care facilities implement comprehensive infectious disease exposure control plans to keep front line health care workers safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • The No Cost for COVID-19 Testing Act, will require all health insurance plans to cover the full cost of COVID-19 testing, including health care provider office visits, urgent care center visits, and emergency room visits related to testing for COVID-19.
Additionally, earlier today, the House Education Labor Committee held a legislative hearing on the Healthy Families Act to ensure that workers have appropriate protections, such as paid sick and safe days. This would help ensure that workers are able to take time off in the event of an emergency like COVID-19. We, on the Education and Labor Committee, are committed to developing an emergency paid sick days solution that will meet the immediate need of workers impacted by COVID-19.

I also joined my colleagues from Washington's Congressional delegation in writing to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner to request a six-month extension to allow tax filers in Washington State to file their taxes. Additionally, Washington State is taking several important steps:
  • Workers Compensation: To ensure workers’ compensation protections for health care workers and first responders who are on the front lines of the COVID-19 outbreak, the State is immediately changing its workers’ compensation coverage policy to provide benefits for health care workers and first responders who are quarantined after being exposed to COVID-19.
  • Unemployment Insurance: Governor Inslee announced yesterday new rules that enhance the flexibility of the unemployment insurance program. The rules will help relieve the burden of temporary layoffs, isolation and quarantine by ensuring unemployment benefits are available to individuals whose employment has been impacted directly by COVID-19.
How do we protect people in nursing homes and assisted living facilities
Yesterday, Governor Inslee announced new rules around nursing homes and assisted living facilities that focus on better protecting older adults – a population more likely to be hit by COVID-19 (coronavirus) – during the ongoing statewide, unprecedented health crisis.

These new rules include:
  • Visitors must be adults and the visit must take place in the resident’s room. This does not apply to end-of-life situations.
  • All visitors must follow COVID-19 screening and follow reasonable precautionary measures. Precautionary measures include, but are not limited to, wearing personal protective equipment, social distancing, or visiting in designated locations.
  • All visitors must sign into a visitor’s log. Owners and operators must retain that log for 30 days.
  • Employees or volunteers must be screened for COVID-19 symptoms at the start of each shift.
  • People who live in nursing homes or assisted living facilities and who test positive for COVID-19 must be isolated away from other people.
  • Owners, operators, staff and volunteers are prohibited from disclosing protected and confidential health information, except as otherwise provided by law or with the resident’s consent.
How do we protect people who are incarcerated?

In King County, the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention is taking proactive steps to protect the health of the community, including for those persons in adult and juvenile detention facilities. King County Jail Health Services and DAJD staff have instituted enhanced screening to reduce the spread of COVID-19, and medical care is available at all facilities. Detainees who become seriously ill are transported to Harborview Hospital for medical care.

To reduce the risk of spread in detention facilities, King County has enhanced its surface disinfection cleaning protocols in adult and juvenile facilities. Employees who work directly with detainees are following appropriate hygiene protocols to limit spread of the virus.

Outside of King County, the Washington State Department of Health has recently issued specific guidance for correctional facilities as well as jails and detention facilities with onsite medical facilities and is distributing this information widely.

How can we get the most current information?

Please visit my website for the latest information from the CDC and state and local health departments - and as you’ve probably seen, I’ve been sending regular, exhaustive updates to our newsletter list (click here to subscribe).

You can also visit the following websites to stay up to date.
In addition, King County has materials available on its website that have been translated to 11 languages including Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Amharic, Somali, and more, and the Washington State Department of Health also has fact sheets available in these languages.

The safety and wellbeing of my constituents and your loved ones is of greatest importance to me and my staff. If you have further questions or concerns, please reach out to my district office in Seattle at 206-674-0040. You can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook for regular updates.

Sincerely,
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U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal
Washington's 7th District​
 

InternetKing

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New Emergency Measures: COVID-19

To help minimize the health impacts of COVID-19, our local and state leaders announced several new emergency measures today.

In addition to Governor Jay Inslee’s recent proclamation, Public Health—Seattle & King County issued a Health Officer Order for our county that prohibits:
  • Large gatherings of more than 250 people.
  • Events of less than 250 people, unless measures are taken by organizers to minimize risk.
City Services

Following these new emergency measures, several Issaquah facilities will be closed to walk-in customers until further notice, starting March 12. In addition, most upcoming events are cancelled.

We remain available during regular business hours at 425-837-3000 or via email. Find resources at issaquahwa.gov/COVID19.

Please be assured that our first responders are working around the clock to continue providing essential services to Issaquah.

For those who depend on hot meals from the Issaquah Senior Center, we will still be providing to-go versions from noon-1 p.m.weekdays at the center’s entrance.

Local Update

Heartbreaking news was also shared yesterday that one resident of the Issaquah Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, who had tested positive for COVID-19, has passed away. Several other patients from the center have also tested positive for COVID-19.

More details are available from Public Health - Seattle & King County.

We are in touch with local long-term care facilities to ensure they are connected to available resources, and are following new state rules to help protect older adults.

Concerning schools, stay updated on the Issaquah School District’s operations via their website.

What You Can Do

To help keep our families, coworkers, neighbors and most vulnerable safe, please:
  • Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
  • Do not go to the emergency room unless it’s essential.
  • If you have symptoms like cough, fever or other respiratory problems, call your healthcare provider.
I am committed to keeping you updated. Please continue to check Twitter for breaking news, and our webpage — issaquahwa.gov/COVID19 — which has an extensive repository of resources.

This is a difficult and trying time for our community. But together, we can help reduce risk and protect public health.

Yours in Service,

Mayor Mary Lou Pauly
 

Doomsday

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News you can use... that doesn't get talked about at all on TV:

 

InternetKing

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Dear Patch Readers,

At Patch, we believe that in order to make the best decisions about our safety and well-being — and those of our families, friends and neighbors — we need access to reliable, objective information about what’s happening in our communities.
That’s especially true in uncertain times. So we’d like to take a moment to reaffirm our commitment to providing you with accurate and timely coverage about how coronavirus is affecting your community, and to provide transparency on the steps we are taking to cover this subject responsibly.
  • Patch employs more than 100 full-time reporters, most of whom live in or near the communities they cover. We strive for objectivity, even when we ourselves are affected by the news. As we do every day, we will make sure our coverage is about facts, not opinions. We will be clear and transparent about sourcing and will call out disinformation when we see it.
  • We’ve taken steps to block advertisers who seek to profit from anxiety over the coronavirus. This is an ongoing effort; some persistent advertisers will try to circumvent our filters. If you see such ads on Patch, please let us know at moderation@patch.com.
  • Similarly, we are redoubling our efforts to curb misinformation and rumors in Patch’s Neighbor Posts sections and article reply sections. Neighbor Posts and replies are a great resource for community members to connect with each other and share valuable local information, and we’d like to keep the spirit of that intact. If you see a post or reply that raises concerns, however, you can flag it for review by clicking the flag icon in the bottom right corner of the post or reply.
Finally, we strongly believe that everyone in the communities we cover should have access to local news and information, particularly about matters of public health and safety. So we don’t ever charge our readers to view our content.
We’ll be working especially hard in the coming weeks to continue to be worthy of your support and readership. In the meantime, we urge all of our readers to stay safe by following these suggestionsfor keeping yourself healthy, including advice from the CDC.
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Alison Bernstein, CEO
 

InternetKing

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Greyhound
Hi Hello,
On behalf of the Greyhound team, I wanted to thank you for traveling with us.
I want to personally let you know that safety—your safety and the safety of our employees—is our number one priority and is built into everything we do, every day. Given the concerns posed by the coronavirus (COVID-19), we have been working with the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) since mid-February and I wanted to share the steps we’ve been taking.

Increased bus cleaning: We know how important cleanliness is, particularly now. We have increased the amount of wipe-down cleaning of high touch areas, including seats, arm rests, handles, windows and seat belts, throughout the day with a CDC recommended disinfectant. This is in addition to our standard deep bus cleaning and sanitization that occurs after each bus trip.

Increased terminal cleaning: We are disinfecting common surfaces more frequently with the same CDC recommended disinfectant. Additionally, we have made hand sanitizer more widely available for customer use.

On board our buses: We have approved hand sanitizer available in each restroom.

Because Greyhound has no middle seats, each customer traveling on Greyhound has an aisle or a window seat. No one is seated between two other customers, which gives everyone more personal space.

A quick boarding process limits the amount of time waiting in terminals or in boarding lines. Boarding begins at 20 minutes prior to departure.

Book with Confidence: To provide you with flexibility when booking travel, we have waived the ticket change fees for tickets purchased between March 5 and March 31, 2020 in all markets. Our customer support team is ready to help you with travel adjustments if you need assistance.

We have a special response team monitoring this evolving situation and we are working closely with CDC to ensure efforts we are taking are in line with global health recommendations. You can learn more about the coronavirus on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.

We are consistently working to create a safe and enjoyable experience for you when you travel on Greyhound. Thank you for being a Greyhound customer, we truly appreciate your business.


Sincerely,
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Dave Leach
President and CEO​
 

InternetKing

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Hilton

Dear Internetking,

In these uncertain times, I wanted to reach out to you personally about what we are doing here at Hilton to support you and your travel plans. As the situation around novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to evolve, we are doing everything we can to ensure your travel safety and provide maximum flexibility.

Your Travel Safety

As it has always been, the safety and security of our guests and team members remains our highest priority. We take great pride in maintaining the highest standards of cleanliness and hygiene. In response to the coronavirus, we have taken additional measures developed in consultation with global and local public health authorities (including the WHO and CDC) to make our cleaning and hygiene protocols even more rigorous:
  • Our hotel teams are receiving ongoing briefings and enhanced operating protocols.
  • We have increased the frequency of cleaning our public areas (including lobbies, elevators, door handles, public bathrooms, etc.) and have continued the use of hospital-grade disinfectant.
  • We will continue to adjust food and beverage service in accordance with current food safety recommendations.
  • We have increased the deployment of antibacterial hand sanitizers.
We have activated our regional and global response teams to provide around-the-clock assistance to our hotels and are prepared to act swiftly should we be alerted to a case of coronavirus at one of our properties.

Your Travel Flexibility

We remain committed to offering you flexible booking options. Given these unique circumstances we are making additional adjustments to our individual booking policies to give you extra peace of mind:
  • Government Restrictions. In regions affected by government-issued travel restrictions, we will continue to waive change fees or offer full refunds. Please click here for the latest information on our travel waivers.
  • Existing Reservations. All reservations – even those described as "non-cancellable" (“Advanced Purchase”) – that are scheduled for arrival before April 30, 2020, can be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival.
  • New Reservations. Any reservation you make – even those described as “non-cancellable” (“Advanced Purchase”) – that are booked between today and April 30, 2020, for any future arrival date, can be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival.
If you need to adjust reservations made via the Hilton website, app or call center, please contact the Hilton Guest Assistance team. If you need to adjust reservations made through another travel site, please contact them for assistance.

Your Points and Status

We know that earning Hilton Honors Points and Status is an important way we show appreciation. We also know the current travel environment may limit your ability to stay with us.
  • We will pause the expiration of all points scheduled to expire between now and May 31, 2020.
  • We will make updates to the requirements for earning tier status for 2021. Since the situation is still evolving, it is too early to make and announce specific changes. We are committed to sharing details as soon as possible.
At Hilton, we believe it is in challenging times like these that the power of hospitality is needed most of all. Whether you are traveling now or in the future, our team members are ready to welcome you with the Hilton hospitality you’ve come to expect.

Chris

Chris Nassetta
President & CEO, Hilton
 

InternetKing

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Dear Internetking,

As the coronavirus has spread around the globe, the journalists of The Wall Street Journal have been committed to bringing you the full story of its effects, from the ground in China to the floors of the stock exchanges, from the hallways of government to the laboratories where companies are racing to develop vaccines.

As always, when events threaten to disrupt business, markets and everyday life, we aim to help you understand and navigate them.

For news and insights on the impact on investors, companies and economies, I invite you to visit our live coverage page, which is regularly updated. We’re also listening to and answering your questions directly, and sharing daily updates on what we know about the virus and how you can be prepared. If you are interested in getting more frequent updates, you can sign up for a coronavirus daily briefing.

We also want to share a special section that ran in today’s printed paper. From how to deal with being in quarantine to tips on working from home and what we know about the coronavirus, the report will offer readers a guide to coping with the outbreak.

We remain deeply grateful for your support and eager for your feedback.

All the best,

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