Kittitas Valley Healthcare-KVH will no longer offer free COVID testing to Kittitas County. According to the Public Hospital website, "sudden and extreme supply chain shortages" force the changes starting Jan. 28.Read More
A flawed coronavirus test distributed by government scientists early in the pandemic was poorly designed and came with erroneous instructions that made it doubly difficult for labs to rely on the test's results, new records show. The shortcomings of the test kits cost the nation precious weeks as officials sought to detect virus hotspots and manage the outbreak.Read More
In a matter of months, Ron Gershwind’s job went from fighting fires to fighting the spread of COVID-19. A normal work day for Gershwind once consisted of manning his station […]Read More
Experts believe that the availability of at-home coronavirus tests could help slow the continued spread of the virus, which is contagious even when people are asymptomatic. Abbott's test will be available on grocery and drugstore shelves in the "coming weeks," according to a press release from the company. Quidel did not include a timeline in its release.Read More
The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it will spend $10 billion to expand testing for schools, to aid in the president's goal to get schools open once again.Read More
With coronavirus infections on a steady, six weeks long descent in the U.S., it's clear the worst days of the brutal winter surge have waned. Yet researchers are still not sure how sustainable the decline is. And a small but concerning uptick in cases in the last three days has health officials on edge.Read More
Ever since the coronavirus reached the U.S., officials and citizens alike have gauged the severity of the spread by tracking one measure in particular: How many new cases are confirmed through testing each day. However, it has been clear all along that this number is an understatement because of testing shortfalls.Read More
The Biden administration has made a $231.8 million deal with an Australian company to boost availability of the first at-home rapid test for the coronavirus which causes COVID-19 that is available without a prescription. The test, made by Ellume, can send results to a smartphone within 15 minutes of receiving a sample.Read More
If you’ve ever waited in a long line to receive a test for the coronavirus, or tried to get one and couldn’t, or waited a week to get the results, you may have wondered why it’s not easier and more convenient. In recent weeks, the Food and Drug Administration began approving over-the-counter COVID-19 tests for Americans to use at home, part of a wave of new options that Read More
The United States has reached a sobering milestone while marking the new year. On Friday, the first day of 2021, the U.S. recorded its 20 millionth confirmed coronavirus case since the beginning of the pandemic.Read More
After months of partisan squabbling, congressional leaders have reached agreement on a nearly $900 billion COVID-19 relief package. "At long last, we have the bipartisan breakthrough the country has needed," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor Sunday evening.Read More
The new tests produce results completely at home within 15 minutes. Experts say they could be a 'game-changer' in helping people find out quickly if they need to isolate. Read More
A majority of hospital nurses said they had never been tested for the coronavirus, according to a recent survey. Hospitals say they are simply following the CDC's guidance.Read More
Co-Diagnostics, a company that has provided coronavirus tests to three state governments, has come under intense scrutiny for claims about its tests' accuracy and stock sales by company leaders.Read More
More than 91,500 people were hospitalized with the virus on Saturday, with 18,000 in intensive care units. That's according to data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project, which collects and analyzes data from across the United States. Over 6,000 patients were on ventilators.Read More
If you were unaware the Apple Cup was even happening this year, then you’re probably not alone. After all, the Pac-12 football season was canceled. Then it was back, three weeks ago, with a shortened 6-game season and safety protocols. Those required canceling games if a team couldn’t field a minimum number of 53 scholarship players. Read More
On Friday alone, there were 195,000 new confirmed cases of the virus and 1,878 deaths. The U.S. has been adding 1 million cases every six days.Read More
The Lucira COVID-19 All-In-One Test Kit is expected to provide results in 30 minutes or less. Its approval could help alleviate the strain on the nation's precarious coronavirus testing system.Read More
More than 11 million confirmed coronavirus cases have been recorded in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University. The country recorded 166,555 new cases in the last day and 1,266 new deaths.Read More
Areas across the country are implementing preventive measures such as curfews. Some experts are questioning whether these minor changes will be enough to control the virus. Read More
It used to be a busy day at the Providence COVID drive-up test site near Olympia was 100 cars. Recently, the site broke a one-day record with 352 drive ups. It's another sign of the “third wave” now underway.Read More
Gov. Brad Little says he has been reluctant to issue a mask mandate “because the rest of the state thinks that anything that comes from Boise is a mandate from big government.”Read More
An unreleased CDC review obtained by NPR shows that lab officials knew an early coronavirus test kit had a high failure rate. They decided not to recall it and sent it to the nation's labs anyway.Read More
Public health experts and officials don’t agree that giving up control is a foregone conclusion, instead warning that steps can and must be taken now to avoid the unnecessary loss of life. And no credible experts have suggested the pandemic will end the day after voting stops, despite suggestions from Trump, who himself has tested positive for the virus, that the media is Read More
Washington State University decided in late July that this fall semester would be entirely online. But thousands of students are still in Pullman. President Kirk Schulz says the university is very concerned about the rapid increase in cases.Read More
On Monday, Aug. 31, the Moscow-based school reported 24 COVID-19 cases. That’s from over 2,300 recent tests on students and staff. Unlike in nearby Pullman across the border, Moscow has not seen a huge spike in cases. Washington State University is responding to a recent surge – more than 300 cases in Pullman in the past 10 days. Read More
Although daily COVID-19 deaths have fallen somewhat in recent days, the number of infections has continued to rise in many places with no end in sight.Read More
The agency now says contacts of people with COVID-19 don't necessarily need to get tested. Public health experts say less testing of potential carriers could lead to more spread of the disease. Read More
With the coronavirus spreading out of control in many parts of the U.S., some experts say the strategy of testing and tracing can't contain the pandemic until lockdowns bring case numbers down.Read More
A document prepared for the White House Coronavirus Task Force but not publicized suggests more than a dozen states, including Idaho and Washington, should revert to more stringent protective measures, limiting social gatherings to 10 people or fewer, closing bars and gyms and asking residents to wear masks at all times.Read More
Adm. Brett Giroir, who leads the federal testing response, tells NPR that the U.S. is on track to test enough to contain the pandemic, saying newer, point-of-care tests are part of the solution.Read More
Seven months since cases of the coronavirus were first reported, some countries have effectively combatted the virus and brought the spread under control. The United States is not one of them. But experts say it’s not too late.Read More
The county’s emergency management office has handed out more than 3 million pieces of protective equipment since March. That includes 770,000 masks to businesses, municipalities, and food banks and an additional 220,000 masks distributed to low-income residents. Read More
The Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions convened Tuesday to address plans to reopen schools and workplaces amid the coronavirus pandemic.Read More
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide surpassed 10 million on Sunday while deaths topped half a million. Health officials estimate the actual case count could be much higher.Read More
Coyote Ridge has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases of any Washington state prison. The outbreak is concentrated within the Medium Security Complex portion of the prison, which houses more than 1,800 inmates. The total prison population is typically more than 2,400.Read More
House Democrats press the leaders of federal agencies for details on whether President Trump has stymied health experts from taking more effective action to stem the spread of the coronavirus.Read More
Tests for the immune response to the coronavirus are revealing thousands of people who were infected but never got severely ill. The findings suggest the virus is less deadly than it first appeared.Read More
As more and more people get tested for antibodies to the coronavirus, infectious disease specialists worry that those tested — and their employers — may not understand the limits of the results.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
