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
The analysis from Columbia University focused on the period from March 15 to May 3, when states and counties implemented "measures enforcing social distancing and restricting individual contact."Read More
Energy demand plummeted because of the pandemic shutdown. A big question is whether new habits like telecommuting and flying less will endure, and mean lower oil consumption in the future.Read More
So far this month, more than 400 Yakima Valley fruit packing workers have gone on strike, according to Familias Unidas Por La Justicia. The farmworker advocacy group, based in Skagit County, is helping these workers organize committees, negotiate with employers and seek legal advice. Read More
The coronavirus is spreading a pandemic of disappointment among Pacific Northwest families and camp counselors via the widespread cancellation of traditional sleepaway summer camps. But some camp operators in Washington state and north Idaho are waiting to make the final call for this summer in hopes that overnight camps can still take place -- albeit with a late start Read More
Washington’s Commerce Department has announced about $10 million in coronavirus relief grants for some of the state’s smallest businesses. Nearly 200 businesses in rural eastern Washington towns are among the recipients.Read More
As Washington Gov. Jay Inslee exerts his emergency powers to battle COVID-19, behind the scenes legislative leaders are exploring the idea of a special session of the Legislature, perhaps as early as next month. Read More
California led the nation in issuing a statewide stay-at-home order. And it's paying an economic price: a $54 billion deficit. As the state reopens, it seeks to balance the economy and public health.Read More
Because of the COVID-19 crisis, 47% of adults say their households have lost employment income and close to 40% have delayed getting medical care, according to early results of a Census Bureau survey.Read More
Though its stores remained open, Target saw its online sales jump 141% in the past three months, with 5 million shopping on the retailer chain's website for the first time. Read More
Most Americans think it will take six months or longer for daily life to return to a relative sense of normal, according to a new PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll. And as states begin the process of reopening, a majority of Americans are worried about a second wave of COVID-19 infections, too.Read More
Yakima County has the highest rate of COVID-19 infections among counties on the West Coast. That means a larger portion of the county's population has tested positive for the coronavirus compared to other counties.Read More
The U.S. and Canada have extended an order closing their shared border to nonessential traffic. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the decision Tuesday, prolonging for a second time an agreement was initially reached in March.Read More
Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday said that 10 additional counties are eligible to apply to loosen some social distancing restrictions in place to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.Read More
A Baker County judge has invalidated Brown’s restrictions on businesses and social gatherings, along with every other executive order Brown has issued under a state of emergency she ordered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Read More
Governors around the country have begun slowly allowing stores, restaurants and malls to serve customers again. But it won't count for much if people are afraid to venture out again.Read More
The disruption in the illegal opioid trade had varying impacts around the country. As stay-at-home orders lift, that creates different risks of overdose that public health is trying to manage.Read More
In the days leading up to the May 18, 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption 40 years ago, Cowlitz County sheriff’s deputies tried to prevent people from getting too close to the growling, shaking mountain.Read More
There is growing economic pressure to reopen national parks and ease travel restrictions even as many states are still seeing a rise in coronavirus cases. Read More
San Juan County in the northwest corner of Washington state is about to become the first county in the Pacific Northwest to require residents and visitors to wear a face covering in public places. Elsewhere in the region, governments have highly recommended wearing masks, but it's not the law.Read More
The flowchart-like documents released by the CDC ask businesses, schools and workplaces to first and foremost consider whether reopening is consistent with state and local stay-at-home orders.Read More
Retail sales saw record drops for the second month in a row. Other categories with huge declines included a 59% dive in furniture sales and 29% decreases in department stores and gas stations.Read More
It’s long been known in eastern Washington that Matt Shea is not your typical politician. Now, he won’t be on the ballot for the upcoming August primary. The 4 p.m. candidate filing deadline on Friday came and went with no sign of Shea. Read More
Whitman County will now enter Phase 2 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Safe Start reopening plan. The application was approved Friday, just a day after Whitman County announced its first positive COVID-19 test since April 22. Read More
Idaho Gov. Brad Little says the Gem State will move to the second phase of state’s four-part coronavirus recovery plan on Saturday. That means businesses such as gyms and hair salons will be able to reopen with the appropriate precautions. Little made his announcement Thursday and threw in a surprise as well.Read More
As the pandemic wreaks havoc on the meat industry, hog farmers anticipate they'll soon be forced to euthanize millions of pigs unable to be sent for processing.Read More
The latest inflation data offers a snapshot of Americans' new pandemic spending habits. Prices are down for most goods and services but up sharply for groceries.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has instructed the state Department of Health (DOH) to prepare to test all nursing home residents and staff for COVID-19 in the coming weeks, according to the physician leading the state’s testing strategy.Read More
In recent weeks, legislative Republicans have been fiercely critical of Inslee for not moving more aggressively to reopen the economy. They’ve criticized him on social media, joined protests at the Capitol and even filed a lawsuit challenging his emergency powers.Read More
Wuhan, where the world's first coronavirus cases were reported in late December, eased many restrictions in early April. But earlier this week, authorities found at least six new cases.Read More
The race is on. What will it take to develop, test and distribute a safe and effective vaccine?Read More
Facing the threat of coronavirus-driven state budget cuts, the University of Idaho is considering mandatory employee furloughs. The proposed furlough plan would cut about $3.3 million in spending, U of I President C. Scott Green said in a memo to staff and faculty Monday.Read More
Health officials in Kittitas County have found at least one new positive case of COVID-19: a worker at a Twin City Foods processing plant in Ellensburg. The news came Friday after more than three weeks of no new confirmed cases. That plus the county’s low population made Kittitas County eligible to lift social distancing measures earlier than other parts of the state.Read More
The current estimated unemployment rate far exceeds the 10 percent peak reached in the Great Recession in 2009. It is the most devastating loss of jobs since the Great Depression, when economists estimate the unemployment rate reached 25 percent in 1933. Read More
As many firms and academic researchers vie for blood donations from survivors in hopes of isolating components for new treatments, one project is turning for help from 10,000 Orthodox Jewish women.Read More
Are your pets at risk from COVID-19? According to animal scientists, no. The risk is low as there has not been an increase in the number of pets with respiratory issues. Read More
The report comes as the government announced all states must now meet federal reporting guidelines. The type of information gathered by states up to now has been inconsistent.Read More
For the second time in a month, opponents of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s extended “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order – many of them openly carrying firearms – rallied at the state Capitol Saturday in an event that brought together sign-waving citizens, conservative state legislators, Republican and Libertarian candidates for public office and members of far-right groups.Read More
The Tyson Foods plant in Waterloo, Iowa, reopened Thursday after a coronavirus outbreak there. Black Hawk County Sheriff Tony Thompson says he'd support a second shutdown if the changes aren't enough.Read More
The video has been viewed millions of times on YouTube via links that are replaced as quickly as the video-sharing service can remove them for violating its policy against "COVID-19 misinformation."Read More
U.S. employers shed a record number of jobs in April, as the unemployment rate climbed to the highest since the Great Depression. The coronavirus crisis has locked down much of the economy.Read More
Tenino, a small town in Thurston County, Washington, has approved a plan to print its own money on strips of wood. Again. It’s a response to the COVID-19 crisis that’s modeled after how the town responded to a prior crisis — the Great Depression.Read More
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
