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VOL 39 NO 15 APRIL 11 – APRIL 17, 2020 FREE 38 YEARS YOUR VOICE
Bono to head response effort in Washington
Photo provided by A.B. Cruz III
Frontline AAPI nurses tell us what it’s like to fight COVID-19
Navy Vice Admiral Raquel Bono (2nd from left) and brother, Rear Admiral A.B. Cruz III (ret.) (2nd from right) with their parents.
Photo provided by PNCNA
By Jason Cruz NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY Born in the Philippines and raised in Texas, Navy Vice Admiral Raquel Bono is the Washington state director for COVID-19 Health System Response Management. She is the first, female, medical, three-
Group photo of Pacific-Northwest Chinese Nurses Association
By Kai Curry NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY “[She] wears a mask when she cooks, then she takes it and eats it in her own room, trying not to have contact with her family,” said Weichao, a nurse and assistant professor at the University of Washington. The Northwest Asian Weekly
spoke with members of the Pacific-Northwest Chinese Nurses Association, who asked that only their first names be used due to employer restrictions, about what it’s like to work during this crisis. “What we’ve heard from folks in our organization, and taking care of COVID-19 patients, our organization has been donating masks and giving to those folks
so they wear a mask around their families,” said Weichao. While none of the nurses we spoke to have witnessed anyone pulling dramatically expanded working hours just yet, they acknowledged that everyone is extremely busy treating patients and addressing questions from concerned people that call in.
star general in the U.S. Navy and is currently a senior fellow with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. In a news release about her appointment last month, Gov. Jay Inslee said, “Vice Admiral Bono... brings an impressive medical background, a long and see BONO on 12
Asian American mothers combat racism to get aid
see NURSES on 11
DSHS buys shuttered nursing home, looking for provider OLYMPIA – The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) is looking for a provider to operate a facility that it just bought to house non-COVID-19 patients. Located in Seattle’s Central District, the nursing home—previously known as Paramount Rehabilitation and Nursing—was closed in February and purchased last week for $13.5 million. It will house as many as 165 patients from local hospitals who test negative for COVID-19 and can receive the level of care they need in a long-term care setting. DSHS transitioned nearly 400 patients out of hospitals across Washington and into nursing homes, assisted living facilities, adult family homes, or other settings of their choice in March. “Increasing hospital bed capacity is crucial during this crisis,” said Aging and Long-Term Support Administration Assistant Secretary Bill Moss. “We are committed to ensuring these patients continue to receive quality care, while at the same time helping to relieve some of the strain
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Former Paramount Health and Rehabilitation Center
on hospitals and health care workers on the front lines.” DSHS is now working to find a provider to operate the facility and hopes to have it reopened by early May. When asked if Kin On might want to become the provider, CEO Nigel Lo told the Northwest Asian Weekly that it would be difficult. see NURSING HOME on 9
By Mahlon Meyer NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY One threatened to get a lawyer. Another kept a journal. Another joined a charity relief effort. But in the end, they were still waiting to see if they would prevail. Northwest Asian Weekly reached out to half a dozen Asian American mothers that
are facing discrimination during the coronavirus outbreak. Some asked for anonymity. Others were willing to go on record. Though their experiences were different, each was deprived of her right to financial support through the use of subtle racist characterizations. Yet each found a way to disrupt the exploitation even while caring for children. see AAPI on 10
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