The WHO team's main public conclusion so far is that it's "extremely unlikely" that the virus originated in a lab in Wuhan. The scientists think the virus most likely started in bats, then jumped to other animals, then to humans. Continue Read More
To justify their reopening decisions, governors point to falling case counts. “We make decisions based on facts,” Cuomo said. “New York City numbers are down.” But epidemiologists and public health experts say a crucial factor is missing from these calculations: the threat of new viral variants. One coronavirus variant, which originated in the United Kingdom and is now Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee says he looks forward to signing a $2.2 billion COVID relief bill in the coming days. The measure cleared the Legislature Wednesday after a bipartisan vote in the state Senate. Continue Reading Read More
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new research on Wednesday that found wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask offers more protection against the coronavirus, as does tying knots on the ear loops of surgical masks. Those findings prompted new guidance on how to improve mask fit at a time of concern over fast-spreading variants of the virus. Read More
The Washington state Department of Health told us they aren't keeping track of who's eligible and who's not among those vaccinated, but anecdotal evidence suggests ineligible people are getting vaccines at many clinics across the state. This happens because each provider must come up with its own process for checking eligibility, and most rely on the honor system. Read More
The first sitting member of Congress, Texas Republican Rep. Ron Wright, died Sunday after receiving a positive test diagnosis for the coronavirus infection, his campaign announced in a statement on Monday. Continue Reading 1st 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
“Inconsistent.” “Disastrous.” “Senseless.” Those are just some of the words being used to describe Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s plan for reopening the state – and they’re the words of his fellow Democrats. It’s a sign of rising frustration over the slow pace of getting restaurants, gyms and other businesses open again. Read More
With millions of older Americans eligible for COVID-19 vaccines and limited supplies, many continue to describe a frantic and frustrating search to secure a shot, beset by uncertainty and difficulty. The efforts to vaccinate people who are 65 and older have strained under the enormous demand that has overwhelmed cumbersome, inconsistent scheduling systems. Read More
Lawmakers in the Idaho state House on Thursday initiated a third attempt to pass legislation to trim the governor’s powers during an emergency such as a pandemic. Continue Reading Idaho Lawmakers Continue Pushing Bills Aimed Read More
News reports and social media feeds have been crowded lately with demands by teachers in Seattle and elsewhere around the state and the country to be vaccinated before they step from behind the computer screen and back into the classroom. Vaccine availability is something not even the governor can guarantee, but teachers are in one of the groups in line for vaccination in Read More
Scientists estimate that somewhere between 70% and 85% of people need to be immune from the coronavirus before the disease will wane through a process known as herd immunity. Both natural immunity and vaccines can play a role in achieving that goal. But getting there won't be easy. Read More
Idaho Gov. Brad Little says his state will move from Stage 2 to Stage 3 in its coronavirus reopening protocol. Little announced Tuesday that groups of up to 50 may now gather, as long as they take precautions with masks and physical distancing. 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
While millions of Americans wait for the COVID-19 vaccine, hospital board members, their trustees and donors around the country have gotten early access to the scarce drug or offers for vaccinations, raising complaints about favoritism tainting decisions about who gets inoculated and when. Read More
The order, issued late Friday, will require masks to be worn by "all passengers on public conveyances" traveling into or within the United States, including airplanes, ships, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis and ride-shares. Coverings will also be required at transportation hubs like airports, bus terminals and train or subway stations. The new guidelines take effect Read More
Gov. Brad Little issued a new executive order Thursday that will require vaccine providers to publicly report additional data as part of an effort to inject more transparency in the vaccine rollout. Continue Reading Governor Brad Read More
The study was conducted in the U.S., Latin America and South Africa. The vaccine did better at preventing disease in the U.S. – 72% — and less well in South Africa – 57% efficacy. The efficacy seen in Latin America was 66%. Read More
The biotech company Novavax says its COVID-19 vaccine is 89% effective at preventing the illness, according to an interim analysis of a large study conducted in the U.K. The results come from a clinical trial involving more than 15,000 volunteers, of whom more than a quarter were older than 65. Read More
Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday announced adjustments to his phased reopening plan that will allow two western Washington regions, comprising seven counties and nearly 60 percent of the state’s population, to move to Phase 2 beginning on Monday. Read More
Suzan Mubarak, 31, and Mitch Domier, 43, live a few miles apart in Bozeman, Mont., but those drive-by visits are the closest the couple has been for nearly 10 months. The coronavirus pandemic largely locked down the homes for adults with developmental disabilities where they each live, limiting them to video chats and the occasional drive-by. Read More
President Biden announced Tuesday that his administration is working to purchase an additional 200 million doses of the two COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorized for emergency use, with the goal, the White House says, of having enough vaccine supply for the entire adult U.S. population by the end of the summer. Read More
How to make sure the world is never so devastated by another pandemic? Health officials from around the globe have been vigorously discussing that question over the past week at the annual meeting of the World Health Organization's Executive Board. The members, whose nine-day-long, mostly virtual gathering concludes on Tuesday, have heard recommendations from four separate Read More
About 500 people made it into line at the COVID-19 mass vaccination event in the Tri-Cities. This is part of a larger set of mass events across the state kicking off this week — including clinics in Spokane, Wenatchee and Ridgefield, in Clark County. Read More
As reports emerge across the country of health facilities throwing out unused and spoiled COVID-19 vaccines, some state governments are failing to track the wastage as required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, leaving officials coordinating immunization efforts blind to exactly how many of the precious, limited doses are going into the trash and why. Read More
The plan includes $618 million to boost vaccination efforts and contact tracing. It also includes $668 million for school assistance, $365 million to aid renters and landlords and $240 million for grants to businesses. Continue Read More
Washington state plans to roll out mass doses of the COVID-19 vaccine at regional hubs starting Monday, Jan. 25. But some local officials say they received little notice and that they’re far from ready. Continue Reading Read More
While another surge remains possible, especially with new, more infectious variants on the horizon, the number of new daily infections in the current wave appears to have hit a high in the past week or two and has been steadily declining in most states since, the researchers say. Read More
While millions wait for a lifesaving shot, the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus continues to soar upward with horrifying speed. On Tuesday, the last full day of Donald Trump's presidency, the official death count reached 400,000 — a once-unthinkable number. More than 100,000 Americans have perished in the pandemic in just the past five weeks. Read More
At the University of Idaho, for example, students who receive a vaccine will be allowed to skip mandatory midsemester coronavirus testing. “At this time, we do not plan to require vaccination, but it is highly recommended,” President C. Scott Green and Provost Torrey Lawrence said in a Friday memo to the campus community. Read More
The state of Washington, hamstrung as many states have been by a slow distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, will deploy the National Guard, set up mass vaccination sites and create a new public-private partnership to lead a renewed effort to get the vaccine into the arms of people. Read More
As the COVID-19 vaccine rolls out, three big questions loom. First, can someone who has been vaccinated still spread the disease? Second, will the vaccine remain effective as the virus itself evolves? And third, how long will the vaccine's protection last? 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
At sunrise Thursday, a line of cars stretched well over a mile from a Sequim city park, through the town, and out onto U.S. Highway 101. Sequim police officers started turning people away and telling them to come back another day even before the first of 600 vaccine doses was injected. Read More
The agriculture industry is asking Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee to move migrant farmworkers and food factory workers closer to the front of the line for the coronavirus vaccine because they perform work that cannot be delayed or performed remotely. Read More
Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration's push to make a COVID-19 vaccine available in record time, added $628 million to a federal contract with Emergent BioSolutions, a Maryland-based contract manufacturer, "to advance manufacturing capabilities and capacity for a potential COVID-19 vaccine as well as therapeutics," the Department of Health and Human Services Read More
As school districts across the state scramble to transition their classrooms safely from the online world back to the real world, they may benefit from the advice of the dozens of Washington districts that welcomed students back into their halls this past fall. Read More
Idaho’s teachers and school staff serving students in grades pre-K through 12th are cleared to start receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Brad Little and public health officials announced Tuesday afternoon. Continue Reading Idaho K-12 Read More
Monoclonal antibody drugs are supposed to help people with mild to moderate COVID-19 avoid the hospital, but it can be a challenge to find out where the treatment is offered. NPR has heard from people across the country who have been frustrated by this. They include Shirley Wagoner, an 80-year-old who still hits the ski slopes and helps run the family plumbing business in Read More
Two Idaho state lawmakers, both Democrats, have filed suit against Republican state House Speaker Scott Bedke, saying he has violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by forging ahead with the legislative session — scheduled to begin Monday — without providing them an option to participate remotely in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Read More
Since the beginning of this pandemic, experts and educators have feared that open schools would spread the coronavirus further, which is why so many classrooms remain closed. But a new, nationwide study suggests reopening schools may be safer than previously thought, at least in communities where the virus is not already spreading out of control. Read More
In the small town of Oak Creek, Colo., — a three-hour drive from Denver, assuming the roads are clear — Gene Bracegirdle, a firefighter and EMT in training, is getting his first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Continue Reading Read More
People age 70 and older as well as some people living with an elder will be next in line for the COVID-19 vaccine in Washington. The state Department of Health on Wednesday provided awaited details for whose turn comes when to get the precious and scarce shots. Read More
A new Crosscut/Elway Poll of Washington voters conducted between Christmas and New Year’s Eve found 55% intended to get vaccinated, including 37% who were certain to get vaccinated as soon as they could. Eighteen percent said they were very likely to get the vaccine, but 27% said they planned to wait and see and 15% were certain they would not get vaccinated. Read More
Amid the ongoing pandemic and threats by far-right protesters to "occupy" the Capitol, Washington lawmakers will convene Monday for what will ultimately be a mostly remote 2021 session with a focus on the ongoing response to COVID-19, police reform, addressing climate change and writing a two-year state budget. Read More
Many patients who are hospitalized for COVID-19 are discharged with symptoms such as those associated with a brain injury. These include "forgetfulness that impairs their ability to function," de Erausquin says. "They complain about trouble with organizing their tasks, and that entails things such as being able to prepare a meal." Read More
On Tuesday, Gov. Jay Inslee announced a phased reopening plan for restaurants and gyms, that is not set entirely by a county-by-county approach, as before. In Phase 2, restaurants and gyms can resume indoor dining/activities at 25% capacity. But in order to qualify to move there, four metrics will have to be trending downward including a 10% reduction in COVID case rates, Read More
That cumulative total — at least 4,818 cases, involving students, teachers and staff — is significantly higher than the weekly totals Health and Welfare has released since October. Using those weekly reports, Idaho Education News in December pegged the number of K-12 cases at slightly more than 3,300, based on the totals from the weekly Health and Welfare reports. Read More
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning health care workers that any changes to the authorized dosing schedules of COVID-19 vaccines currently being administered significantly place public health at risk and undermine "the historic vaccination effort to protect the population" from the coronavirus pandemic. Read More
Sheriff's deputy Jon Melvin, 60, was found Dec. 11, 2020, in bed at his home in Desert Aire, in southwestern Grant County. Fellow deputies were checking on his welfare after family members were unable to reach him. Continue Read More
