covid-19 Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

COVID-19, 5 years later: Reflections on the scars we carry, and resilience in unprecedented times

By Rachel Sun March 20, 2025

NWPB caught up with local residents and doctors to talk about how they’ve moved forward following the COVID-19 pandemic. They spoke about how the experience changed them and wisdom they’ve gleaned along the way. These are their reflections. Read More

US Supreme Court will consider petition for stay in COVID-19 free speech case

By Rachel Sun December 6, 2024

The U.S. Supreme Court will review an application for a stay in a federal lawsuit involving local retired eye doctor Richard Eggleston.Read More

Group representing retired Clarkston ophthalmologist asks US Supreme Court for injunctive relief

By Rachel Sun December 3, 2024

A copy of an injunction is pictured on a table.

A retired Clarkston eye doctor is part of a group asking the U-S Supreme Court to grant an injunction in a lawsuit against Washington state officials.Read More

Experts say get vaccinated now for influenza

By Rachel Sun October 1, 2024

A woman administers a vaccine to another person.

Flu season is just around the corner, and health officials say now is a great time to get your flu shot.Read More

Long-COVID patients need more resources in central Washington

By Johanna Bejarano December 22, 2023

In Washington, there is only one clinic to treat Long-COVID. It is in Seattle on the west side of the state. Long-COVID haulers in the Yakima Valley face a lack of local resources, diagnosis and information. Some say they feel disconnected from their doctors. This is part three of a collaborative piece with palabra about Long-COVID.Read More

Pacientes de COVID persistente necesitan más recursos en el centro de Washington

By Johanna Bejarano December 22, 2023

University of Washington’s long COVID clinic, located at the Norm Maleng Building at Harborview Medical Center. (Credit: Tela Moss / NWPB)

En Washington sólo hay una clínica que trata a pacientes de COVID persistente o Long-COVID y está ubicada en Seattle, al oeste del estado. Los pacientes de COVID persistente del valle de Yakima se enfrentan a la falta de recursos locales, diagnóstico e información. Algunos dicen que se sienten desconectados de sus médicos.Read More

Long-term impacts of Long-COVID among Latinos being researched in WA

By Johanna Bejarano December 21, 2023

Dr. Leo Morales, co-director of the University of Washington Latino Center for Health.

Researchers are looking into Long-COVID in Washington. Nearly half of Latinos were asked whether they have experienced prolonged COVID symptoms and their answers showed they have.Read More

Missing: What to do when someone disappears

By Lauren Paterson October 30, 2023

A drone photo shows a remote dirt road next to a green meadow surrounded by mountains covered by evergreen trees.

Terrence Woods went missing in October 2018 near Orogrande, Idaho while filming with a British TV crew from Raw TV. The wilderness of Idaho County (pictured here) is some of […]Read More

Blood banks in need of donations

By Rachel Sun October 27, 2023

Many blood banks have dangerously low supplies. Rachel Sun reports.Read More

Court rules Eggleston may appeal medical commission’s denial of preliminary injunction

By Rachel Sun October 12, 2023

A portrait of Dr. Richard Eggleston smiling at the camera

A retired Clarkston ophthalmologist was facing discipline from the Washington Medical Commission after writing a series of opinion columns sharing contested COVID-19 information. Now, he will be allowed to appeal a decision denying his request for a preliminary injunction. Rachel Sun reports.Read More

COVID trends down in WA, officials say vaccines still recommended

By Rachel Sun October 6, 2023

Health officials are recommending updated COVID-19 boosters and flu shots for anyone 6 months or older. U.S. residents also can now order more free COVID-19 at-home tests through the postal service at covid.gov/tests. Each household can order a set of four rapid tests.Read More

Comedian Paula Poundstone talks the importance of librarians and how to ‘Get back to being human’

By Thom Kokenge July 26, 2023

We heard a rumor that Paula Poundstone was heading to our neck of the woods, so NWPB's Thom Kokenge caught up with her to find out what she's up to. Read More

Preliminary injunction for Eggleston hearing denied

By Rachel Sun May 23, 2023

A retired ophthalmologist, who wrote opinion columns in the Lewiston Tribune regarding COVID-19, was denied a preliminary injunction on charges filed against him by the Washington Medical Commission at a hearing Wednesday. His hearing with the Washington Medical Commission is scheduled for 9 a.m. May 24-26.Read More

Washington ends COVID-19 vaccine requirements for state employees

By Northwest News Network May 12, 2023

Gov. Jay Inslee announced Wednesday that he is rescinding the requirement for state employees to get their COVID-19 shot as a condition for keeping their jobs

Washington State employees will no longer be required to get a COVID-19 vaccination in order to keep their jobs.Read More

‘Idaho Vital Statistics’ reports COVID-19 third highest killer behind heart disease, cancer

By Rachel Sun April 20, 2023

Idaho’s leading causes of death as reported in the 2021 Vital Statistics Summary Listen (Runtime 00:48) Read A report announced this week by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare […]Read More

What we learned from COVID: Nancy A. Hansen

By Rachel Sun April 7, 2023

A woman stands in front of a white door frame indoors. She wears a large, floppy black hat, black sun glasses and a white, medical face mask. She wears a light green cardigan over a green flower-print button up shirt.

When COVID-19 reached the Inland Northwest, few people could have predicted how profoundly it would change their life. NWPB’s Rachel Sun interviewed local residents about how the pandemic affected them. This is the last of a four-part mini series. Read More

Padres que trabajan en el campo necesitan más recursos para afrontar incendios forestales

By Johanna Bejarano March 31, 2023

Trabajadores agrícolas del centro de Washington y sus familias necesitan más información para protegerse del humo, opciones asequibles para el cuidado de sus hijos y otros recursos que los ayuden a estar preparados ante futuros eventos de humo. Read More

Study: farmworking parents need more resources to cope with wildfire seasons

By Johanna Bejarano March 31, 2023

Farmworkers’ families in Central Washington need more smoke safety information, accessible childcare, and other resources to be prepared for future smoke events. Those are the results of a recent study where researchers asked parents how they cope with wildfire seasons. Read More

What we learned from COVID: Melyssa Andrews

By Rachel Sun March 30, 2023

A woman sits on a brown horse. She wears a bright blue t-shirt, a black cowboy hat and blue jeans. The horse is behind a white horse who is mostly out of frame and another brown horse. Two red vehicles are parked in the parking lot where they stand. In the distance is a grassy hill with green trees beneath a light, blue sky.

Photo courtesy of Melyssa Andrews Listen (Runtime 1:23) Read When COVID-19 reached the Inland Northwest, few people could have predicted how profoundly it would change their lives. NWPB’s Rachel Sun […]Read More

What we learned from COVID: Delaney Snaadt

By Rachel Sun March 27, 2023

A young woman stands in a black, leather jacket with her hands in the pockets. She has long, dark, wavy hair and wears glasses with dark rims. She smiles toward the camera, in the background and out of focus is a sidewalk covered in melting snow.

When COVID-19 reached the Inland Northwest, few people could have predicted the profound changes it would cause. NWPB’s Rachel Sun interviewed local residents about how the pandemic changed their mental health, lives, and perspective. This is the second in a four-part mini series. Read More

What we learned from COVID: Oluwaseyi Arogudade

By Rachel Sun March 21, 2023

When COVID-19 reached the Inland Northwest, few people could have predicted its profound changes. NWPB’s Rachel Sun interviews local residents about how the pandemic changed their mental health, lives and perspective. This is the first in a four-part mini series.Read More

Doctors still doing damage control after pandemic fallout

By Rachel Sun January 10, 2023

When the COVID-19 pandemic reached the Inland Northwest almost three years ago, Dr. Max Williams started seeing a change in some of his patients that shocked him: People he had treated successfully for years no longer trusted him.Read More

Some hospitals in contingency operations, pediatric units rationing drugs

By Rachel Sun December 16, 2022

Idaho’s hospitals are feeling the strain from the “tripledemic” of RSV, flu and COVID-19, officials say. Dr. Jim Souza is the chief physician executive at St. Luke’s Health System in Boise.Read More

Health department: ‘Now is the time to get vaccinated’

By Rachel Sun December 16, 2022

Officials say children have lowest vaccination rate, urge regular masking in crowded, confined spacesRead More

Moscow Middle School closes after third of students call out sick

By Rachel Sun December 8, 2022

Moscow Middle School will close Friday after a third of its 499 students called out sick Tuesday and Wednesday. Read More

Washington to shut down COVID-19 response website

By Rachel Sun November 29, 2022

Starting Dec. 1, users will be redirected to the coronavirus landing page on doh.wa.gov from the state coronavirus response website. Read The Washington State Department of Health announced in a […]Read More

Experts urge public to get vaccinated as communities face respiratory triple threat

By Rachel Sun November 21, 2022

Cases of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, have been steadily rising in Washington and Idaho along with pediatric hospitalizations. Influenza and COVID-19 also pose a risk, creating what experts are […]Read More

Updated COVID-19 Boosters Reach Idaho Just In Time For Fall

By Rachel Sun September 19, 2022

Listen (Runtime 0:59) Read Idaho residents getting COVID-19 booster shots will now receive an updated vaccine to target BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants. The boosters are available to anyone 12 […]Read More

Ophthalmologist Facing Allegation of Unprofessional Conduct, Could Potentially Lose Medical License

By Rachel Sun September 12, 2022

Richard Eggleston Listen (Runtime :59) Read When Richard Eggleston started writing Opinion page columns about COVID-19 for the Lewiston Tribune in early 2021, his writing garnered strong criticism from readers […]Read More

Online Portal Allows Residents to Report At-Home COVID-19 Test Results

By Rachel Sun September 12, 2022

Photo courtesy of Pixabay Listen (Runtime :50) Read The portal is also open to Idaho residents, but it is not currently one of the “collaborating states.” Washington residents previously had […]Read More

Washington Residents Could Get Updated Vaccine by Mid-September

By Rachel Sun September 6, 2022

Kristin May, an EMT with the Seattle Fire Dept., gives the first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to a patient at a City of Seattle community COVID-19 testing and vaccination clinic in Seattle's Rainier Beach neighborhood in February 2021. CREDIT: Ted S. Warren/AP

Whitman County residents could be getting access to an updated COVID-19 booster to target the dominant omicron variants of the virus as early as Sept. 9.Read More

Washington And Oregon Among States With Longest Life Expectancy, But Pandemic Hurt

By Tom Banse September 2, 2022

Many of the best states for life expectancy of a child born in 2020 were in the American West

Washington and Oregon rank in the top ten states for the longest life expectancy, according to new numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The high rankings come with the caveat that the pandemic has thrown lengthening human lifespans into reverse across the U.S.Read More

DOH Updates School, Childcare COVID-19 Guidelines

By Rachel Sun August 12, 2022

Image courtesy Pixabay Listen (Runtime 1:00) Read The Washington Department of Health released updated guidelines for mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in K-12 schools and childcare on Friday, including updates […]Read More

Experts Advise On Best Practices As At-Home Tests Go Unreported

By Rachel Sun July 21, 2022

Photo courtesy of Pixabay Listen (Runtime 0:47) Read In the past month, the Northwest has seen a rise in COVID-19 cases — but just how many is unclear. The Washington […]Read More

Washington Seafood Company Fined Following COVID Death

By Austin Jenkins April 26, 2022

A graphic from the state of Washington depicts different forms of face coverings. A Pierce County fish processing plant has been fined for not complying with the state's workplace mask mandate, resulting in the death of an employee from COVID last year.

A Sumner, Washington seafood company that makes imitation crab and other products has been fined $56,000 in connection with a 2021 COVID outbreak that left one employee dead.Read More

Organizations Encourage Americans to Donate Blood Amid National Shortage

By Murrow News - Ivy Schank April 25, 2022

The U.S. is facing the largest blood shortage in years due to the COVID-19 pandemic discouraging people to donate.Read More

Small Town, Big Numbers: How One Idaho Town Got The Majority Of Its Residents Vaccinated

By Rachel Sun April 12, 2022

When COVID-19 reached the inland Northwest two years ago, more people took to the great outdoors. The number of visitors to Elk River skyrocketed, and many residents became nervous about exposure to the virus.Read More

Tracking COVID Through Wastewater in Idaho

By Rachel Sun March 28, 2022

Studies of COVID in wastewater can help predict outbreaks Listen Rachel Sun reports on how scientists at the University of Idaho are tracking COVID through wastewater / Runtime – 1:46 […]Read More

Richland Public Schools Are In Emergency Closure Again

By Dori Luzzo Gilmour February 16, 2022

A black chalk board with the writing, school closed on it.

Richland Washington public schools were in an emergency closure Wednesday, and will be closed again Thursday.Read More

The transition from pandemic to endemic

By Murrow News - Abby Davis February 11, 2022

https://youtu.be/arlvM_izfH8 More Murrow News Stories PULLMAN, WASH – As 2022 progresses, some people are calling for stringent COVID-19 mitigation efforts like mask-wearing to lessen. “If we’re gonna get it, there’s already […]Read More

Washington Governor Says Announcement On State Indoor Mask Mandate Coming Next Week

By Austin Jenkins February 10, 2022

Isaac Williams, 6, wears a mask as he prepares to receive a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday, November 9, 2021, at Seattle Children's Hospital in Seattle. Wash. Gov. Inslee said on Feb. 9, 2022 that he’s lifting outdoor masking requirements.

As states from Oregon to New York announce plans to end mask mandates, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday announced that he’s lifting outdoor masking requirements and plans to announce next week a date when the face-covering rules for public indoor spaces and schools will be lifted.Read More

Inaccessibility of COVID-19 testing in Pullman

By Murrow News - Rylee Fitzgerald February 9, 2022

More Murrow News Stories PULLMAN, Wash. – Something on all of our minds as the omicron variant takes over the U.S…COVID-19 testing in Pullman, or should I say, the lack […]Read More

Covid Rates Are Exploding In Eastern WA

By Dori Luzzo Gilmour February 8, 2022

Education District 123 covers Benton and Franklin county and has the highest Covid case rates in Washington state. Mitigation efforts at local schools from masking and distancing continue, but some school board members are pushing back against those measuresRead More

Covid Rates Climbing In Tri-Cities Schools

By Dori Luzzo Gilmour February 7, 2022

According to the Washington State Department of Health, covid case rates in Eastern Washington are top ten for the entire country. DOH is emphasizing the importance of masks and vaccines, and warn of hospitals becoming increasingly filled in the next two weeks with Covid cases.Read More