Coronavirus News

The metrics set by the state will determine when we are able to move to phase 3. We are currently meeting 3 of the 5 metrics.

Epidemiologists and disease modelers tried to predict what would happen when students moved back to campus. Although some universities listened to their advice, that didn’t stop outbreaks from happening.

As another grim milestone approaches, here are the lessons officials ignored and what the country needs to do to prevent further tragedy.

At NW Fitness in Seattle, everything from a set of squats to a run on the treadmill requires a mask. Every other cardio machine is off-limits. The owners have marked up the floor with blue tape to show where each person can work out.

About 60% of poll respondents are worried that federal regulators will rush to allow a vaccine because of political pressure. Opposition to getting a vaccine that might be authorized before the November election is strongest among Republicans.

Traditionally, requirements that kids undergo certain immunizations before attending school have been a critical public health tool. Health officials are scrambling to make sure children don’t fall through the cracks.

Physicians Premier ER charged Dr. Zachary Sussman’s insurance $10,984 for his COVID-19 antibody test even though Sussman worked for the chain and knows the testing materials only cost about $8. Even more surprising: The insurer paid in full.

Epidemiologists are having a hard time predicting whether Labor Day will be like the Fourth of July and Memorial Day, when celebrations fanned the flames in coronavirus hot spots around the South and West.

We have focused our briefings each week on the updates and changes effecting the Anacortes Community. This week we have Dr. Leibrand here with us to answer to some of your Public Health questions.

In a hyped press briefing the eve of the Republican National Convention, President Donald Trump falsely said that convalescent plasma had been “proven to reduce mortality by 35%,” even though the therapy has not yet been shown to be effective for COVID-19.

Rural hospitals were already struggling before the coronavirus emerged. Now, the loss of revenue from patients who are afraid to come to the emergency room, postponing doctor’s appointments and delaying elective surgeries is adding to the pressure.

Fueled by the president’s unfounded claims about rampant voter fraud, and reports of equipment being removed, the plight of the United States Postal Service has captured America’s attention. Will it collapse? Here’s what you need to know.

Las Vegas casinos, open for months now, are a likely hotbed for the spread of COVID-19. For many reasons, contact tracing has proved next to impossible as tourists return to homes across the U.S.

Congress has allocated trillions of dollars to ease the coronavirus crisis. A joint KHN and AP investigation finds that many communities with big outbreaks have spent little of that federal money on local public health departments for work such as testing and contact tracing.

Poor information-sharing between hospitals and public health agencies has hurt the response to the pandemic. Some health care systems and IT companies are making inroads, but an overhaul would cost billions.

As we remain watchful of the County’s metrics, the City focuses on how to best support our community through this economic sustainability.

A database of deaths compiled by KHN and The Guardian includes a significant minority under 30, leaving shattered dreams and devastated families.

Skeptics say the lack of enforceable federal safety standards geared toward the coronavirus allows these employers to prioritize the harvest over worker safety.

The City will be receiving ten parklets within the next two weeks. Once assembled, these parklets will facilitate physically distant outdoor dining and retail.

Kaiser Health News gathered tips from experets on what to look for when trying to decide if you will be comfortable visiting various estabishments.

As scientists race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, experts say obesity could prove an impediment — a sobering prospect for a nation in which nearly half of all adults are obese.

Experts say folks 60 and up must continue to limit exposure in the years to come - even after there is a vaccine for COVID-19. 

The Trump administration told hospitals to stop reporting data to the CDC, and report it to HHS instead. Vice President Mike Pence said the information would continue to be released publicly. It hasn’t worked out as promised.

Early in the pandemic, insurers expected the costs of treating COVID-19 would vastly increase medical spending. Instead, non-COVID care has plummeted and insurers have pocketed the result. 

Cases in Washington have risen from 2,000 to almost 50,000, and deaths have increased from 110 to over 1,500. We are in the midst of a global pandemic and unfortunately, as cases grow we can expect to see an increase in deaths as well.

Newly released employment data underscores the lingering toll the pandemic has taken on a range of outpatient services in California and across the U.S., from pediatric and family medical practices to dental offices, medical labs and home health care.

In promoting the reopening of schools this fall, Trump administration officials have, at times, inaccurately described the evidence on how COVID-19 affects children.

Health plan network changes occur all the time as doctors retire, relocate or leave networks. Unfortunately, patients may be the last to find out about such changes because there are often few requirements that either providers or insurers inform them.

Time and again over the past two decades, peace officers have targeted demonstrators with munitions designed only to stun and stop. 

Currently there are 707 cases in Skagit County, 17 deaths, and 70 hospitalized. That is an increase of 80 cases in one week. The County is seeing an increase in cases due to the 4^th of July holiday and summer travelers.

Viewed in isolation or presented without context, coronavirus numbers don’t always give an accurate picture of how the pandemic is being handled. Here, ProPublica journalists Caroline Chen and Ash Ngu offer insight on how to navigate the figures.

The Food and Drug Administration released new “temporary guidance” for manufacturers facing supply chain shortages that allows them to make some ingredient substitutions without changing food labels. The pandemic had already made finding trusted foods difficult for some people with allergies. Now they're worrying about what's actually in their go-to products.

Younger people are less likely to be hospitalized or die of COVID-19 than their elders, but they circulate more freely while carrying the disease, and their cases are harder to trace. Together, these facts terrify California hospital officials.

Anacortes School District says its staff is continuing to work on multiple facets to prepare for fall schools reopening.

Doctors treating coronavirus patients were supposed to be allowed into the U.S. But hundreds of young doctors have their visas put on hold indefinitely.

Based on a current surge in the COVID-19 cases the Skagit County Public Health Department has directed the City of Anacortes to cancel the Open Streets event scheduled for Friday July 17 and Saturday July 18. 

Some districts want to bring everyone back to the classroom and some are planning distance-only learning, while most others are settling on one of a variety of options in the middle. Whatever their leanings, they all face vast, troubling uncertainty.

Nearly 8,000 ventilators are destined for foreign countries as part of Trump’s plan to make the U.S. “king of ventilators.” But public health experts worry the machines are crowding out more urgently needed aid.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos used an outdated figure in claiming only 10% of school districts had “provided any kind of real curriculum and instruction program” after the coronavirus pandemic caused schools to shut down this spring. That was the case for 82 districts in late March, but by late April, 56% were doing so. In late May, the figure was 67%.

ProPublica found at least 15 large companies that received over half a billion dollars in PPP loans using the same technique: Getting multiple loans sent to smaller entities they own.

Even as most U.S. states and authorities reimpose many of the restrictions they had prematurely lifted, public health experts say you can still have a safe social life — just not the one you were used to before the pandemic hit.

Democrats want to bind employers to follow a safety plan, while Republicans seek to shield employers and doctors from lawsuits.

The federal government is essentially providing seed money to PPE startups, including some run by people accused of fraud. Mask brokers describe a simple blueprint for buying masks from China to get rich.

Good afternoon, welcome to my COVID-19 Briefing for July 8. I hope you all had a safe and enjoyable 4^th of July.

Millions of dollars in federal PPP pandemic-related loans have been approved for 48 Anacortes businesses and non-profits. 

The United States is the only developed nation unable to balance cost, efficacy and social good in setting prices.

Americans who had coronavirus symptoms in March and April are getting big hospital bills — because they were not sick enough to get then-scarce COVID tests. Some insurers say they are trying to correct these bills, but patients may have to put up a fight.

Months into the coronavirus pandemic, older adults are having a hard time envisioning their “new normal.”

Skagit County Public Health and Mira Vista Care Center have confirmed that there is an ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 at the Care Center in Mount Vernon. So far, 21 people have tested positive for COVID-19.

People who put off care as COVID-19 surged are easing back into the medical system. Here’s how to know if it’s safe.

After months of asserting pregnant women were not at high risk for the coronavirus, the CDC recently released a study with sobering findings for expectant mothers. Experts say the data gaps are almost as worrisome as the results.

The U.S. public health system has been starved for decades and lacks the resources necessary to confront the worst health crisis in a century.

As health workers were dying of COVID-19, federal work-safety officials filed just one citation against an employer and rapidly closed complaints about protective gear.

"Unfortunately we’ve seen an uptick in positive cases over the past several weeks that have prevented us from being able to move forward per the Safe Start—Reopening Washington plan."

The Trump administration has doubled down on its claims that coronavirus case counts are up because the U.S. has increased testing. However, a closer look at graphs of testing numbers and positive cases shows that this isn’t the case for many states.

I want to commend all the citizens of this community for flattening the curve in Anacortes, being involved in making sure your family and neighbors are taken care of, and for reaching out to me to have discussions about difficult topics and the future of our community.

State officials are pointing to reopened bars as a cause of local spikes in coronavirus cases. Bars are tailor-made for the spread of the virus, with a cacophony of conversations that require raised voices and alcohol, which can impede judgment.

Governor Inslee on Tuesday announced a new statewide requirement that all Washingtonians and visitors to the State wear facemasks or coverings in indoor public places such as stores, offices and restaurants.

Some experts say the United States is arguably still in the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic and history tells us that the 1918 influenza pandemic came in at least three waves. 

The plastic tubes supplied for coronavirus testing by Fillakit, a first-time federal contractor with a sketchy owner, don’t even fit the racks used to analyze samples. And they may be contaminated anyway.

We are continuing to see an increasing rate of cases in Skagit County.

It is likely we’ll eventually have a coronavirus vaccine — but perhaps not as quickly as some expect. From development, to clinical trials and distribution, ProPublica reporter Caroline Chen explains the tremendous challenges that lie ahead.

Wisconsin already faced a shortage of caregivers who offer crucial health services and independence to their clients. Then the pandemic struck. In a survey of nearly 500 Wisconsinites with disabilities and older adults, every respondent said the pandemic had disrupted their caregiving service.

Although laws prohibit price gouging on precious resources in times of emergency, states have been forced to compete for a share of the nation’s stockpile of ventilators — used to treat the sickest COVID patients — or pay top dollar on sideline deals. 

ProPublica deputy managing editor Charles Ornstein wanted to know why experts were wrong when they said U.S. hospitals would be overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients. 

But some of those options, like special enrollment periods, are time-sensitive.

Skagit County moved to Phase 2 on June 5. As businesses start to reopen and people begin to return to work, please closely follow the new protocols and procedures issued by the Governor.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced the nation’s doctors and hospitals to reevaluate how they work. At least three major changes may have a lasting impact.

Health researchers are among the voices calling for police to stop using tear gas and pepper spray on protesters, because these chemical irritants can damage the body in ways that can spread the coronavirus and increase the severity of COVID-19. 

Black lives are being lost to COVID-19 at twice the rate of others. For protesters we talked to, that’s one more reason to be on the street. “If it’s not police beating us up, it’s us dying in a hospital from the pandemic,” one said.

Skagit County on Friday received approval from the state Department of Health to officially move to Phase 2 of the Governor’s Safe Start Reopening Washington Plan. “We are excited to move forward. It is long overdue,” said Skagit County Public Health Director Jennifer Johnson.

I want to address the community understanding that COVID-19 has had an enormous impact on our community for the past few months. We have seen many Counties in our state move to phase 2 and we are eager to join them.

In the middle of a respiratory pandemic, law enforcement agencies have used tear gas in especially dangerous ways. The chemical agent also seeps into homes, contaminates food, furniture, skin and surfaces, and can cause long-term lung damage.

The Anacortes Arts Festical has cancelled its 2020 edition, saying the decision wasn't made lightly. "We feel like we have pushed all of the deadlines for planning as far as we can."

Amid questions about the accuracy of the COVID-19 antibody tests flooding the market — and the usefulness of the results they provide — the FDA has belatedly stepped in to try to rein in the chaos.

Last month, the Internal Revenue Service announced it would let employees add, drop or change some of their benefits for the remainder of 2020. The catch: Your employer has to allow the changes. KHN explains how it could work.

The Skagit County Board of Health and the Skagit County Board of Commissioners Friday voted to submit an official application to move forward to Phase 2 under Governor Inslee’s Safe Start plan. 

The long-term care industry resisted a federal mandate to plan for disasters including pandemics. About 43% of nursing homes have been caught violating the requirement, including facilities that have now had deadly COVID-19 outbreaks.

As a journalist, she wrote during the winter about the hostility shown toward Asian Americans for wearing masks. In May, she got cursed at for not wearing a mask herself.

I am incredibly proud of how our business owners, health care providers, and the employees of the City have adapted to this new reality.

The guidance to stay sheltered as society slowly reopens wears on older Americans, who have a growing sense of isolation and depression.

Of those who went without seeing a doctor or other medical provider, 11% experienced a worsened medical condition, according to the poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation. In addition, nearly 40% said stress related to the coronavirus crisis has negatively impacted their mental health.

You never planned on raising kids during a pandemic, and there are no easy decisions. ProPublica scoured the latest research and talked to seven infectious disease and public health experts to help think through the issues facing parents.

Skagit County Board of Health, Unified Command Ask Governor Inslee to reevaluate eligibility requirements and consider Phase 2 variance for Skagit County

The situation continues to be fluid and we are learning as we go, we have been adapting to changing circumstancing and are building more resilient processes and procedures to accomplish the City’s business.

ProPublica has launched a special project watching as many states lift stay-at-home orders and how closely they match federal guidelines for reopening. Check their daily state-by-state report here. 

Most states ordered dental offices to close except for emergency patient care when the coronavirus hit the U.S. But the shutdown drilled deep into dentists’ finances, and they have been eager to reopen as states have relaxed their closures.

Vaccines and antivirals have long been an afterthought but Johnson & Johnson and other firms are widely publicizing how they might stop COVID 19.

Conspiratorial videos and websites about COVID-19 are going viral. Here’s how one of the authors of “The Conspiracy Theory Handbook” says you can fight back. One big takeaway: Focus your efforts on people who can hear evidence and think rationally.

California’s governor and San Francisco’s mayor worked together to act early in confronting the COVID threat. For Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio, it was a different story, and 27,000 New Yorkers have died so far.

Thousands of researchers worldwide are looking for a treatment that will go beyond what remdesivir can do for COVID patients.

Now is the time to stay strong. Our lives have been turned upside down, but now - we can slowly start to build our new normal by following the Governor’s Safe Start plan. Video & full text here.

Still, medical experts say, it’s not a black-and-white decision of either go on a ventilator or die.

Skagit County Public Health says that its study on the Skagit Chorale COVID-19 outbreak has been published by the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control. The study emphasizes the high-transmissibility of COVID-19 and explains new findings about the outbreak event.  

The City of Anacortes has decided to cancel a number of public events this summer following the recommendation of the county Public Health Officer.

The economy is in free fall but Wall Street is thriving, and stocks of big private equity firms are soaring dramatically higher. That tells you who investors think is the real beneficiary of the federal government’s massive rescue efforts.

States and the federal government are experimenting with steps that will allow people to start working again and returning to more typical lifestyles. But public health experts offer their thoughts on the related risk-benefit calculations.

You’ve probably read in the news over the past few weeks that Public Health officials are hoping to expand antibody (also called serology) testing, and probably have some questions about what antibody testing could mean for you and Governor Inslee’s Safe Start plan.

Skagit County Health Dept. recommends cancelling or postponing large scale events, including fairs, parades, festivals, overnight residential camps, fireworks displays or any other large group gatherings through the summer.

TSA officials stockpiled a huge shipment of N95 masks they knew they didn’t need even after two agency officials asked to donate them.