Also in this edition: Small business resources and additional guidance on staying safe during the holidays



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Our region was home to the first COVID-19 outbreak in our nation nearly nine months ago. Our quick response, backed by science and recommendations from experts, made Seattle a leader in the nation with some of the lowest rates of COVID-19 of any major city. However, with the onset of colder weather in the fall and winter, we have seen an alarming spike in the number of cases and hospitalizations in our region over the last several weeks.

We need to reverse this trajectory now, before it gets worse, to protect our community's health and our economy.

Earlier today, Governor Jay Inslee issued new statewide restrictions [ [link removed] ] on social gatherings and businesses in response to the surge of COVID-19 across Washington state. We must continue to listen to doctors, healthcare workers, and public health officials who are warning about rising cases and hospitalizations.

While Seattle has one of the lowest rates of cases of any major city, we are not immune to the virus surging in the nation, state, and region. Seattles cases and hospitalizations are skyrocketing. During the first two weeks of November, Seattle had 1,550* residents* diagnosed with the virus, which is nearly *_20% of our total cases_* since March 2020. The number of hospitalizations in King County last week increased by over 70 percent compared to the previous four weeks. You can find more data here [ [link removed] ] or by visiting Public Health Seattle & King Countys data dashboard [ [link removed] ]

Graph showing the number of positive COVID-19 cases over time in Seattle, showing a large spike in recent days

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic downturn have impacted so many small businesses and workers. People are hurting. These actions will have a particularly profound impact on our small businesses as we head into what normally would be a busy holiday shopping season. While Seattle will continue to work creatively to provide direct financial assistance to our workers and small businesses, we are grateful the state will create a new $50 million relief fund. We also need the federal government to immediately pass another COVID-19 relief package.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the City of Seattle has worked quickly to launch COVID-19 relief programs including rent relief, expanding shelter for people experiencing homelessness, grocery vouchers for working families, direct cash assistance for immigrants and refugees, and financial assistance to small businesses. Residents and businesses can find a list of existing COVID-19 relief resources and policies on this website [ [link removed] ]. I will work with the City Council, and our philanthropic and business community to provide further emergency relief in Seattle

Not being able to gather during the holidays with our loved ones makes an incredibly hard year even harder. As challenging as it is, we all need to be mindful of social and family gatherings.

As always, please continue to write me [email protected], reach out viaTwitter [ [link removed] ]andFacebook [ [link removed] ], and stay up-to-date on the work were doing for the people of Seattle onmy blog. [ [link removed] ]

Stay Safe and Healthy,

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Inslee Announces New Statewide Restrictions for Four-Weeks

Gov. Jay Inslee today announced a set of four-week statewide restrictions [ [link removed] ] in response to the recent rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus in Washington and across the country.

The new restrictions come as Washington is seeing a consistent increase in daily case counts, with over 2,000 cases a day over the weekend and average cases in the state doubling over the past two weeks.

This spike puts us in a more dangerous a position than we were in March, Inslee said during a press conference Sunday. And it means, unfortunately, the time has come to reinstate restrictions on activities statewide to preserve the publics well-being, and to save lives. These were very difficult decisions that have very real consequences to peoples livelihoods. I recognize that and dont take those impacts lightly, but we must act now and act quickly to slow the spread of this disease.

The restrictions are statewide and will take effect Monday, November 16 at 11:59 PM and will remain in effect until Monday, December 14. The modified restrictions of restaurants, however, will take effect Wednesday, November 18 at 12:01 AM.

To help mitigate financial impacts on businesses and their employees, the state will commit $50 million in aid. Businesses can also apply for Paycheck Protection Plan forgivable loans from the Small Business Administration, or from their local bank. If workers are kept in their jobs, the loans arent required to be paid back.

Read the rest of the story on the governor's Medium page [ [link removed] ].

The full proclamation is available here [ [link removed] ].

The full guidance page is available here [ [link removed] ].

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City of Seattle to Open Applications for $4 Million in Small Business Stabilization Fund Grants

Mayor Jenny A. Durkan announced that the City will now accept applications for $4 million in newSmall Business Stabilization Fund [ [link removed] ]grants provided by the Office of Economic Development (OED). Launching the expanded Small Business Stabilization Fund was one of Mayor Durkans first COVID-19 relief actions, and to date, OED has provided 469 small businesses with $10,000 grants through this fund. The Small Business Stabilization Fund application will accept applications from Monday, November 9 until Monday November 30, 2020.

The newest round of the Small Business Stabilization Fund is funded by the joint COVID-19 relief bill thatthe Mayor and City Council passed [ [link removed] ]in August. In the joint legislation, the Mayor and City Council allocated $5.5 million for Small Business Stabilization Fund grants and committed to spend $2.5 million in 2020, and another $3 million in 2021. After accounting for administrative costs, OED will be able to provide small businesses and economic opportunity non-profits $2.37 million for grants in 2020 and roughly $1.6 million for grants in 2021. Additionally, the City is committing $1.25 million in 2021 to work with community-based organizations to help improve our prioritization of grants to the most vulnerable and traditionally underserved businesses.

Read more [ [link removed] ]
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Think Small for Game Days and Holidays

This year, our game days, family gatherings and holidays will be different. And thats hard. But there are lots of ways to be a little more together, even when were apart. As of Nov. 16, Gov. Inslee announced that indoor gatherings with people outside the household will be prohibited unless they quarantine for the fourteen days (14) prior to the social gathering or quarantine for the seven (7) days prior to the gathering, and receive a negative COVID-19 test result no more than 48-hours prior to the gathering. Outdoor gatherings are limited to no more than five people.

In addition to the recommendations and ideas provided by the Washington State Department of Health [ [link removed] ], the safest way to stay safe, however, is to visit with extended family over a video conferencing platform like Zoom. Check out this article from Business Insider [ [link removed] ] if this is your first time throwing a Zoom party. If Thanksgiving just isnt the same for you without a classic turkey dinner, this article from the New York Times gives you a recipe for a delicious small-scale turkey dinner [ [link removed] ] that you can share with the people living in your house.

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Mayor Durkan Announces $5.65 Million to Community Organizations Through the Equitable Development Initiative

Earlier this week, Mayor Durkan announcednearly$6million in awards through theEquitable Development Initiative [ [link removed] ](EDI), part of the Citys effort to support Seattles existing residents and businesses in high displacement risk neighborhoods.The City awarded $4.4 million to community organizations for site acquisition and major capital projects and another $1.25millionis intended to provide capacity-building support to existing EDI partners providingservices during the current pandemic and economic crisis.The awardsto organizations led by and serving people of color will be used for organizational capacity building, property acquisition, and capital expenses.In addition to the$36millioninEDIfundsawarded, thesecommunity-basedorganizationsleveraged that amount tomore than $105 million in City-funded dollars since 2017.

Along with these award announcements,Mayor Durkan signed herordinances, approved unanimously be the Seattle City Council, that transfers City property to Black-led community organizations in the Central District. The two ordinances permanentlytransfer theCentral Area Senior Center [ [link removed] ](CASC)tocommunity ownershipandestablish a 99-year lease withAfricatownCommunity Land Trust [ [link removed] ](ACLT) forFire Station 6, anEDI award recipient.These property transfers build on the September transfer to Byrd Barr Place, anotherBlack-led advocacy organization.

Read more [ [link removed] ]






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