Carlos Escobar-Mejia, 57, had been in ICE custody since Jan. 10, when he was stopped in a car by the Border Patrol in Chula Vista, Calif. Before then, he had been living in the U.S. for 40 years. Read More
Across the U.S., convention centers and empty fields were transformed into emergency field hospitals at a cost to federal taxpayers of more than $660 million. Most haven't treated a single patient. Read More
Dr. Ali Khan, former director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at the CDC, discusses what the U.S. needs to do to soften the impact of a second wave of COVID-19.Read More
More testing will allow Washington state to relax some social distancing measures, because we'll be able to identify sick people early and keep them isolated. Here's how we can get there.Read More
A former vaccine expert with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) alleges in a whistleblower complaint that he was ousted because his efforts to address the coronavirus pandemic conflicted with those of President Donald Trump and other administration officials.Read More
Given the opportunity to accelerate the restart of shuttered businesses and social activities, six counties in central and eastern Washington wasted no time this week in submitting the necessary paperwork to the state government. Kittitas, Garfield, Columbia, Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille County officials hope to hear an answer back from the Washington State Secretary of Read More
It's not just a fever and dry cough. For milder cases of COVID-19, the array of symptoms can include headaches, fatigue, loss of smell and even lesions on the feet known as "COVID toes."Read More
The four Republican lawmakers who are suing are state Reps. Drew MacEwen, Andrew Barkis, Chris Corry and Brandon Vick. Four Washington residents are also part of the lawsuit.Read More
"Today the world showed extraordinary unity for the common good," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. The U.S. was conspicuously absent from the event.Read More
Dr. Anthony Fauci and other members of the coronavirus task force will testify before a GOP-led Senate committee next week but have been blocked from making similar appearances in the House so far.Read More
Colleges have been careful to leave the door open on their plans for the fall semester. Most experts say it will be anything but normal. Here's a sampling of how it could look.Read More
It was physically and emotionally demanding work made all the more challenging because families weren’t allowed to visit their loved ones. Dr. Luke Hansen said seeing people die in a chaotic emergency room without their families at their side was one of the hardest parts of his time in New York. Read More
Not-so-small companies like Shake Shack and organizations like the LA Lakers were able to get loans that were meant for suffering small businesses. What happened?Read More
As scientists rush to find a vaccine that could end the global pandemic, some cities and states in the U.S. are relying on antibody testing to get a better picture of how the virus has spread and how many people it has infected.Read More
More than 100 Washington state parks made the cut to reopen for day use beginning Tuesday, but aficionados of Pacific Coast and Columbia River Gorge getaways will have to wait a while longer.Read More
An unprecedented number of ships have canceled their calls to the ports of Seattle and Tacoma. So far this year, there have been 32 canceled international sailings since January 1. That has created the shortage of shipping containers at those Northwest ports.Read More
What types of tests are available for the coronavirus, and how accurate are they? Here's a handy guide to the field.Read More
Washington's 'stay home' order will extend until at least May 31. On Friday, Gov. Jay Inslee announced the new time frame and that businesses will be able to open over four phases.Read More
Health officials have tested more than 1,000 Tyson Fresh Meats plant workers for COVID-19 in Wallula, Washington, near Pasco. As of Friday afternoon, 111 have tested positive in the plant that slaughters and processes beef products.Read More
Idaho Governor Brad Little kicked off the process Thursday of “re-opening” the state after five weeks of “stay home, stay healthy” measures to help stem the spread of coronavirus.Read More
Across the Northwest, small and mid-sized farms are grappling with a range of challenges brought about by coronavirus.Read More
Kwame Alexander, NPR's poet in residence, reads the latest crowdsourced poem, this one focused on how you've been affected by and coping during the global coronavirus pandemic. Read More
Another 3.8 million people filed claims for unemployment last week, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to weigh on the U.S. job market. That brought the total for the past 6 weeks to 30.3 million.Read More
Getting adequate supplies of personal protective equipment remains a problem in Washington state. The goods are important to protect healthcare workers – and an indication of whether the state can reopen.Read More
Outdoor enthusiasts in Washington may be looking forward to the reopening of many shuttered state parks and public lands next week. But a few of Washington's most popular state parks could stay closed because the surrounding communities are worried about crowds and renewed disease spread.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday confirmed that his statewide stay-at-home order would be extended beyond its current May 4 end date. Inslee also said the state had new guidelines for health care providers to resume some non-urgent surgical procedures.Read More
As COVID-19 spreads in detention, ICE documents shared with NPR reveal new details about the health care provided to two immigrants who died in 2017. Those facilities now face coronavirus outbreaks. Read More
The economy contracted in the first quarter of 2020 as the coronavirus began to take its toll and spending dived. It's the first quarterly drop in six years and a likely precursor to a deep recession.Read More
With his current stay home order set to expire in less than a week, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday strongly suggested that, even though the COVID-19 peak appears to have passed, he intends to leave in place most of the current restrictions for the foreseeable future.Read More
Idaho nursing homes have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, with at least 150 cases reported at 16 different long-term care facilities in the state. So far, at least 26 people at such facilities have died from COVID-19.Read More
The U.S. also has more than 57,000 deaths, just months after the coronavirus was identified.Read More
To safely reopen without risking new COVID-19 outbreaks, states need enough staffing to do the crucial work of contact tracing. We surveyed public health agencies to find out how much they have.Read More
In Olympia on Monday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced that restrictions on fishing, hunting, hiking and golfing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus will begin easing next week on May 5. Inslee also announced most state parks, state forestlands and state-managed boat ramps will reopen on that Tuesday.Read More
Attorney General William Barr on Monday ordered federal prosecutors across the U.S. to identify coronavirus-related restrictions from state and local governments “that could be violating the constitutional rights and civil liberties of individual citizens.”Read More
Bankers tell NPR that the SBA's portal wouldn't allow them to enter the loan application information that is needed to access the PPP program.Read More
Coal use has plummeted in part because it's more expensive than natural gas or renewable energy. Mines are shutting down, and some power plants may run out of places to stockpile coal. Read More
Fishing, hunting and golfing can resume on May 5 in Washington, at which time people can also return to state parks and other state lands for day trips, Gov. Jay Inslee announced Monday.Read More
The Centers for Disease Control now recognizes chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat and new loss of taste or smell as symptoms of the disease.Read More
Some states are moving forward, but many would be wise to wait, according to experts at the University of Washington. Here's their estimate for each state's safe date to reopen.Read More
In a dramatic example of COVID-19’s impact on the criminal justice system, the number of people in Washington jails has plummeted in recent weeks, ending virtually overnight an overcrowding problem that plagued many facilities for years. Today, a few of the state’s smallest jails are reporting inmate populations in the single digits.Read More
Medical examiners are now screening for possible coronavirus connections in late January. Emerging evidence suggests it spread far earlier and more widely than initially believed.Read More
We felt a stroke of luck two weeks ago, when our local theater chain in Tri-Cities handed out bags of popcorn over the weekend. But that night, as we chowed down and watched one of the many movies we’ve streamed recently, we realized we really missed seeing movies with our friends. Little did we know, the Milton-Freewater Drive-IN would fulfill our wish. And that of about Read More
“We are trying to find that right balance of safety and productivity,” Gov. Jay Inslee said, during a news conference announcing the eased construction restrictions. Read More
Entertainment companies Live Nation and AEG have modified their refund policies for postponed events. Getting money back would depend on whether a concert or a game has a firm rescheduled date.Read More
Coronavirus risk and ongoing shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) are leading fire departments around the region to rediscover the enduring truth of the idiom, "Necessity is the mother of invention." Read More
The biggest item in the $484 billion measure is roughly $321 billion in additional funding for a small-business loan program. President Trump signed the legislation on Friday. Read More
The Trump administration is investigating the theory that the virus leaked from a lab. Scientists who work with viruses say that's virtually impossible and point to transmission from an animal.Read More
The justices, in a 5-4 decision, said that the prisoners who had sued failed to show that the Department of Corrections was not properly addressing the risk of COVID-19.Read More
More than 500 firefighters and EMTs in the Pacific Northwest have been temporarily quarantined after suspected exposure to the coronavirus over the past two months. The Washington State Council of Fire Fighters and the Oregon Fire Service Coronavirus Response Team have been monitoring the number of first responders taken out of service. Read More
Idaho Gov. Brad Little has announced a four-stage plan for re-opening the state’s businesses and communities after closures due to the coronavirus. The first stage is scheduled to take effect May 1.Read More
