Live updates: 1,061 deaths, 19,828 coronavirus cases in Washington state

Washington state approved on Saturday seven more counties to move on to Phase 2 of Gov. Inslee’s ‘Safe Start’ plan. Currently, there are 21 counties that can progress. Health officials in Snohomish County say they have a ways to go to meet the criteria.

Confirmed coronavirus cases across Washington state

Follow live updates today below.

Sunday, May 24

3:37pm – There are now 19,828 confirmed coronavirus cases statewide as reported by the Washington State Department of Health, with 1,061 deaths. Of the 326,593 total tests, 6.1% have been positive.

2:36pm – Effective yesterday, residents of Kittitas County have been directed they must wear a mask in public settings where they may come into contact with other people. Check here for the directive. 

11:33am – Evergreen Washelli Cemetery announced on Facebook it will not host its 94th Annual Memorial Day Remembrance Service this year (2020) or other events surrounding Memorial Day. However, the cemetery is open Memorial Day Weekend.

“Our cemetery has remained open for burials and visitors during this pandemic. All visitors are urged to follow social-distancing practices along with the protocols from Governor Inslee’s office and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

7:35am – The Department of Health updated its COVID-19 dashboard late Saturday night. The state says 316,276 people have been tested and of those, 19,585 have been confirmed positive. Of the positive tests, 1,055 people have died. Of the over 19K positive cases, only 3,256 have been hospitalizations.

Saturday, May 23

8:47pm – Seven more counties were approved on Saturday to move on to Phase Two in Gov. Inslee’s Safe Start plan: Cowlitz, Grant, Island, Jefferson, Mason, Pacific, and San Juan counties. Read more.

1:13pm – After two months of closures because of COVID-19 pandemic concerns, many of Washington state’s coastal waters are set to reopen for fishing on Tuesday, officials said. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said marine areas 1-3 including Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor, will open for bottomfish, shellfish, mussels, clams, oysters, and other species. Crabbing on the Columbia River is also set to resume under normal regulations on Tuesday. Read more from AP.

9:47am – President Trump may have declared that all religious services should be deemed essential and open back up immediately, but that doesn’t mean faith groups in the Seattle area are going to do so. Read more.

6:51am – Health officials in Snohomish County say they still have a ways to go before meeting the target for new cases over a 14-day period, which is the criteria for moving on to Phase Two of reopening. Read more.

Friday, May 22

4:59pm – The state Department of Health is reporting a total of 19,265 confirmed coronavirus cases statewide, with 3,230 hospitalizations and 1,050 deaths. There have been a total of 308,368 tests, 6.2% of which have been positive.

3:40pm – Governor Inslee has extended a rule on debts for one more week to May 27. Creditors are not allowed to go after people in Washington state for consumer debt collection and must waive all interest since the coronavirus pandemic began. The order is designed to protect people’s assets and try to ensure they can keep their federal stimulus checks.

2:55pm – Two cases of a rare inflammatory disease linked to COVID-19 have been confirmed in kids in Washington. One case is in Snohomish County; the other in King County. Snohomish County Health Officer Dr. Chris Spitters says symptoms include rash, stomach pain, nausea, and diarrhea. He says parents seeing symptoms should call their doctor, especially if the child has been exposed to COVID-19.

2:03pm – PETA will be handing out free toilet paper rolls at Pike Place Market on Saturday. Someone dressed in a pig costume — dubbed their “Pandemic Pig” — will be passing out the rolls as well as free “vegan starter kits” — to shoppers. PETA supporters will join the pig, standing 6-feet-apart, holding signs supporting a meat-free lifestyle.

1:04pm – Washington State Secretary of Health John Wiesman approved variance applications for four more counties — Adams, Grays Harbor, Lewis, and Spokane — to move to Phase 2 of the ‘Safe Start’ plan. There are now 14 approved counties moving to Phase 2, and 11 more counties that are eligible to apply.

Kittitas County’s application is currently on pause due to an outbreak investigation.

12:26pm – King County Executive Dow Constantine provided some clarification on a directive asking that people wear masks when out in public.

King County residents are asked to wear some sort of cloth face covering “at any indoor or outdoor public space,” while reserving medical-grade masks for health professionals and front-line first responders.

Face coverings are not needed when you are outside walking, exercising, or “sitting at the park,” provided you “are able to regularly stay arms’ length away from other people.”

11:27am – President Trump said Friday that he is asking that all churches and places of worship be deemed “essential,” and allowed to reopen as soon as this weekend.

Trump said that if states opt not to reopen places of worship, he will look to overrule governors. That being so, legally state governments have a good deal of latitude to make decisions like that without federal intervention.

10:48am – With many people looking to get outside for Memorial Day weekend, the Washington Trails Association has tips for hiking while maintaining social distancing.

That includes checking the status of the trail you’re looking to visit to see whether it’s open, planning ahead to pack lunch and other essentials, staying as close to home as possible, and more.

10:03am – How exactly will the future of sports look once basketball, football, and baseball return in the United States? Odds are it will very likely be without fans in stadiums. Read more. 

9:09am – After being closed for two months, casinos across Washington state are starting to reopen their doors to guests. Tribal casinos are allowed to reopen on their own timelines, independent of Gov. Inslee’s ‘Safe Start’ plan, since local tribes are sovereign nations and therefore not subject to the governor’s orders. Read more. 

8:23am – Washington State Superintendent of Schools Chris Reykdal will be holding a free webinar today at 12:30 p.m., to answer questions and talk about the current status of the state’s schools. You can register for the webinar online here.

7:44am – With the Memorial Day holiday weekend kicking off the start of summer travel, the TSA has announced changes to its airport security screening process.

Here are a few new guidelines:

• Instead of handing your boarding pass to a TSA officer, travelers will be allowed to place their boarding pass on the scanner reader themselves, then show it to the officer for inspection.
• Carry-on food items should be placed in a clear plastic bag then put in a bin.
• The TSA will place markers on the floor and stagger lanes to maintain social distancing.
• Travelers may be asked to remove their face masks during screening.

6:57am – The number of deaths from COVID-19 could potentially be much higher than is currently reflected in state data. Read more. 

6:18am – Striking Yakima-Valley apple workers have filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. They are alleging Allan Brothers Fruit is not doing enough to protect them from coronavirus and is threatening coworkers if they join their strike.

Allan Brothers Fruit sent KIRO Radio a statement saying state labor and county health inspectors have come to their packinghouse and they are meeting or exceeding all safety standards. The company says they are not making threats to workers and are allowing all strikers to return to work if they want to.

5:20am – Gov. Inslee took issue Thursday with the Trump Administration’s plan to recall the National Guard from the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis.

According to Inslee, the National Guard has been serving in “essential roles” in Washington’s fight against the virus, delivering over a million meals, helping test hundreds of people, and assembling thousands of testing kits.

The National Guard also composes roughly a third of the state’s contact tracing staff.

More than all that, the Washington governor points out that President Trump has opted to recall National Guard personnel one day before many qualify for education and retirement benefits.

Thursday, May 21

5:33pm – Confirmed coronavirus cases in Washington state have now crossed 19,000 with a total of 19,117 cases statewide. The state Department of Health is also reporting 1,044 total deaths with 3,156 hospitalizations. There have been 302,927 total tests, 6.3% of which have been positive.

4:45pm – Cowlitz, Grant, and Pacific counties are now eligible to apply for variance in Phase 2 of reopening. Counties with a two-week average of 10 or fewer new cases per 100,000 residents qualify. The following counties were previously approved to move to Phase 2: Asotin, Columbia, Garfield, Lincoln, Ferry, Pend Orielle, Skamania, Stevens, Wahkiakum, and Whitman.

3:39pm – The state announced Thursday it paid hundreds of millions of dollars in unemployment benefits to fraudsters. Now the legitimate claims will have to wait a bit longer. Nick Demerice with Employment Security says direct deposits normally take 24 to 48 hours after filing, but this will likely be around 72 hours in the coming weeks. He says the fraudsters impersonated tens of thousands of Washingtonians. Read more.

3:12pm – Travel guru Rick Steves believes his businesses will emerge from this pandemic. While he has already reduced payroll, and plans to further reduce payroll into 2021, he’s committed to not laying off any of his employees and continuing to provide them healthcare. Steves and his employees are working on refunding all 24,000 tours that had been booked for this year. Read more.

2:18pm – On Wednesday, Gov. Jay Inslee met with members of the National Guard and Washington State Department of Health personnel who are supporting the voluntary contact tracing efforts statewide. As of May 19, there were 723 National Guard personnel and 769 Department of Licensing personnel who had been trained to help local health jurisdictions in contact tracing efforts. There are nearly 630 local and state public health professionals involved in this work as well. Read more.

12:45pm – Gubernatorial candidate and anti-tax activist Tim Eyman is filing a third lawsuit against Jay Inslee, this time in a bid to allow businesses to reopen statewide.

Eyman announced the lawsuit in a Thursday rally in front of the Capitol building in Olympia to a crowd of supporters.

11:57am – King County property taxpayers could get another extension, but they probably won’t know until the last minute.

The proposed legislation won’t be introduced to the full Council until next Tuesday. The current deadline to pay is less than a week later on June 1.

The new proposal by King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn would set June 30 as the new due date, and allow property owners to pay in installments.

11:39am – Seattle-King County Public Health released a video Thursday detailing its efforts to control the spread of COVID-19 in the region’s nursing homes, homeless shelters, and “other vulnerable sites.” You can watch the video in full here.

10:12am – Washington state saw a 28% increase in claims for unemployment benefits for the week of May 10 through May 16, according to the latest numbers from the Employment Security Department.

An additional 29,308 unemployment claims were filed compared to the previous week. In total, over 1.9 million initial claims have been filed since the pandemic began.

10:05am – Lawsuits looking to either enforce or overturn stay-at-home orders have been prevalent across the U.S., and Washington state has been no exception. But how much legal standing do these lawsuits have exactly? Former Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna weighed in on Seattle’s Morning News. Read more. 

9:14am – Gov. Inslee’s press conference originally scheduled for Thursday at 11:30 a.m. has been rescheduled for a later date, with the governor’s staff taking more time to finalize guidance for restarting religious services. We will provide an update on the new day and time when we receive word.

8:42am – COVID-19 put the “Make a Wish” dreams of Lynnwood 3-year-old Eli Kincaid on hold. That’s when the city’s first responders stepped in to save the day. Read more. 

7:53am – With incidents of unemployment fraud in Washington increasing, state officials have now made changes that require people filing a claim to verify their identities, “or provide more information.”

Filers are now being asked to check their eServices account for alerts and “respond immediately.”

7:16am – A website created by a Mercer Island teenager is a “viral” sensation. Known as the “Coronavirus Dashboard,” the site was made by 17-year-old Avi Schiffmann.

According to Business Insider, it’s one of the most visited tracking sites in the world for COVID-19 numbers, getting about 30 million visitors every day.

6:29am – Many in Kent are about to lose their jobs as the city struggles like so many others through the economic realities of closing off the economy due to the coronavirus. Read more.

5:36am – Roughly 2.4 million Americans filed for jobless benefits last week, making for over 38.6 million total filings over the last nine weeks.

5:17am – Gov. Jay Inslee will be delivering a press conference Thursday at 11:30 a.m., providing an update on restarting faith-based services, “and will speak to health care providers on the importance of seeking emergency medical care amid the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Wednesday, May 20

8:17pm – Health officials say 297,942 people have been tested for coronavirus in Washington state and of those, 18,971 people have been confirmed positive. The rate of positive tests is 6.4%. Six more people have died since Tuesday, bringing the total to 1,037.

5:02pm – Pacific and Grays Harbor Counties had asked for razor clam digging to resume on the previously allotted days this month, but the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife says it brings too many people to the beaches. Razor clam digging is banned through the end of May, and that ban could be extended.

4:07pm – With in-person schooling suspended for the year, the big question is what do you do in the fall? Already there are concerns from numerous health experts that there could be a resurgence of coronavirus cases. To get a sense of what this new reality could look like, KIRO Radio’s Gee and Ursula spoke with state Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal. Read more.

3:30pm – San Juan County managers tell KIRO Radio now that they are eligible, they will work to move to Phase Two of Gov. Inslee’s Safe Start reopening plan. However, they’re still asking tourists to stay away. Gray’s Harbor County is also applying for Phase Two. Kitsap and Thurston counties are now qualified, but say they are waiting to decide if they will apply for early reopening.

2:18pm – An estimated 28 million elective surgeries have been postponed during the COVID-19 pandemic and response worldwide, according to a study published in the British Journal of Surgery. Read more.

12:11pm – Seafair has officially opted to not hold any of its major events in 2020. That includes the annual U.S. Navy Blue Angels airshow, and 4th of July Fireworks. The plan is to have both of those events take place as scheduled in 2021.

“We are deeply disappointed but together we will get through this emergency,” Seafair President and CEO Eric Corning said in a news release.

11:27am – Gov. Jay Inslee announced Wednesday that the state now has 723 National Guard personnel and 769 Department of Licensing employees trained as contact tracers.

“I’m grateful to the agencies who answered the call to contribute to this important work,” Inslee said in a news release. “We are all in this together, and the support from the National Guard and the Department of Licensing affirms that. Rapid work to track and prevent the spread of disease is an important piece of our ability to safely emerge from this pandemic.”

These new tracers are in addition to another 630 public health professionals already doing this work. State officials are also looking at applications from volunteers numbering in the thousands.

11:07am – Mayor Jenny Durkan is clashing with Seattle City Council over homeless encampment cleanups during the COVID-19 crisis, with her office drafting a letter denouncing recently proposed legislation that would make it so money could not be used to remove camps unless there is a compelling public health reason. Read more. 

10:03am – Gov. Inslee is meeting with personnel from the Washington National Guard and state Department of Health Wednesday to discuss voluntary contact tracing efforts. He will then be taking questions from the media on Facebook at 10:15 a.m.

9:31am – Seattle Public Schools announced Tuesday that students can take online summer courses in the months ahead.

According to a report from The Seattle Times, summer classes will run between July 6 and August 7, across elementary, middle, and high schoolers. Registration will begin next week.

8:46am – Despite facing opposition from some to his stay-at-home order, Gov. Jay Inslee is polling favorably among Washingtonians on his handled of the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Read more. 

7:59am – President Trump’s allies are working to gather doctors as spokespeople friendly to quickly reopening the U.S., against the advice of the CDC’s more phased approach, according to a report from the Associated Press.

The AP says that the plan was detailed in a conference call on May 11 with a “senior staffer for the Trump reelection campaign.”

7:15am – One of the many victims in a rash of unemployment “imposter fraud” incidents during the coronavirus crisis was Bellevue’s own Deputy Mayor Jared Nieuwenhuis. Read more. 

6:29am – New polling data from Navigator Research indicates that President Trump’s rating regarding how he’s handled the pandemic hit a new low this week, with just 40% approval. 56% of respondents said they disapprove of how the President is managing the crisis.

Meanwhile, 58% of people are concerned about social distancing ending too soon, while just 32% say they’re worried it will go on too long.

5:22am – Addressing the loosened restrictions for counties looking to enter into Phase 2 of reopening, Gov. Inslee noted that the progress Washington has made in quelling its COVID-19 outbreak remains tenuous.

“We’re making progress. But the progress we’ve made is fragile,” Inslee said Tuesday. “It requires our continued diligence, especially as we begin to reopen parts of our economy.”

Tuesday, May 19

5:15pm – The city of Seattle has a new website to help connect businesses, nonprofits, and individuals who need protective gear to people who are manufacturing it. Seattle-area manufacturers can register products on the site “Seattle Protects.”

4:21pm – The state Department of Health is reporting 200 new coronavirus cases today statewide, bringing the total to 18,811 cases, with 1,031 deaths. Of the 293,120 total tests, 6.4% have been positive.

3:22pm – Kitsap County is eligible to move into Phase 2 of Gov. Inslee’s Safe Start process, but on Tuesday its health department said it will wait until the end of the month to decide if it will apply for a variance. The office says one of the reasons is a worker at a long-term care community has tested positive for COVID-19. Kitsap county’s Health department says it wants to investigate the risk to the rest of the population.

1:34pm – A Washington State corrections officer is speaking out after one of his fellow officers died of COVID-19. He spoke anonymously on KIRO Radio’s Gee and Ursula show about the loss of 65-year-old Berisford Morse.

Morse died after coming into contact with an inmate at the Monroe Correctional Facility. The anonymous officer said when he last checked, 17 inmates and eight or nine officers had been infected at his facility — but he says it could have been much worse.

12:24pm – King County issued a face covering directive that took effect Monday, encouraging all residents to wear a mask or cloth face covering over their nose and mouth when in public settings to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Now, other counties in Washington state are following suit. Read more. 

11:36am – In a Tuesday press conference, Gov. Jay Inslee announced that he will be loosening the requirements for counties looking to enter into Phase 2 of reopening. Read more. 

11:00am – Gov. Inslee is delivering a press conference Tuesday at 11 a.m., to provide an update on “additional county variances,” and to announce emergency grants for small businesses.

9:47am – When you finally decide it’s time to take a flight again, you will have a vastly different experience flying than you’re used to. Read more. 

8:41am – The Oregon Supreme Court halted the implementation of a Monday lower court ruling, that had previously tossed out the state’s ongoing stay-at-home order.

A Baker County circuit court judge had ruled that the Legislature’s approval was needed to extend the order beyond 28 days. The state Supreme Court’s ruling puts a stay on that ruling until high court justices can review the case further.

8:03am – The IHME’s Dr. Ali Mokdad expressed concern this week over both Georgia and Texas, in an interview with KING 5.

“They’re opening prematurely in my opinion, and their testing capacity & tracing is not there yet for them to go into phase 1 of re-opening,” said Dr. Mokdad.

6:39am – Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced Tuesday that his office is filing lawsuits against a pair of gyms violating Gov. Inslee’s ongoing stay-at-home order.

“Both business owners have received multiple warnings,” Ferguson’s office said in a news release. “In addition, they are engaging in an unfair business practice while their competitors remain closed. Consequently, the gyms are gaining an unfair advantage over their competitors who are complying with the proclamation, which violates the Consumer Protection Act.”

The two gyms — one located in Arlington, and the other in Puyallup — have been given “one final opportunity to avoid monetary penalties,” and have 24 hours to close.

5:51am – With Asotin County getting approval Monday, 10 counties have now been given the go-ahead to move into Phase 2 of Gov. Inslee’s reopening plan early.

Eight of the 10 counties are in Eastern Washington. The full list includes: Ferry, Stevens, Pend Oreille, Whitman, Lincoln, Columbia, Garfield, Skamania, Wahkiakum, and Asotin counties.

Kittitas County also applied for a waiver to enter Phase 2 early and is awaiting approval.

5:24am – Speaking to CNN Monday night, Dr. Ali Mokdad with UW’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation spoke to the efficacy of wearing masks in public.

“It’s very important to remind everybody that masks do work, and we see the effect of masks for reducing the transmission of the virus,” said Dr. Mokdad.

The IHME is currently in the process of incorporating data into its model denoting how wearing a face covering can reduce transmission as mobility increases in some areas.

Monday, May 18

3:37pm – The state Department of Health reports one new death due to coronavirus, bringing the total statewide to 1,002 deaths. There are now 18,611 confirmed cases in Washington state out of 289,135 total tests. Of those tests, 6.4% are positive. View county totals here.

2:44pm – Gov. Inslee announced a plan Monday for resuming elective medical procedures in Washington, and reopening health care and dental care facilities. The readiness of each office will be determined by the amount of personal protective equipment (PPE) and available surge capacity, among other guidelines from the state. Practices will decide for themselves if and when they can reopen, and some providers may have to adjust their opening plans due to a lack of PPE.

“We recognize it’s still difficult to purchase certain types of PPE,” said Gov. Inslee on Monday.

Inslee said the state is doing everything it can to provide more protective gear for health care workers. Other strategies practices will implement to protect both health care workers and patients as offices reopen include limiting the number of people in waiting rooms, physical distancing, temperature checks, hand washing, and increased hygiene. Read more.

2:10pm – Asotin County has been approved by Washington State Secretary of Health John Wiesman to move into Phase 2 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s ‘Safe Start’ plan. There are now 10 counties approved for Phase 2 across Washington state.

12:14pm – Gov. Jay Inslee will be delivering a press conference Monday at 2:30 p.m., to provide an update on reopening health care services in Washington state.

11:52am – University of Washington researchers may have identified an antibody that could help fight coronavirus infections.

The antibody was first found in a blood sample from someone who had recovered from SARS in 2003. Known as S309, the antibody is on “fast-track development” at Vir Biotechnology, in hopes of beginning clinical trials soon.

11:04am – Has the federal government failed Washington in its coronavirus response? Read more from MyNorthwest’s Nick Bowman.

10:05am – Not only are stores, restaurants, and service businesses feeling the pinch of COVID-19, but even major hospitals in the Seattle area are suffering financially — and that means they’re having to furlough employees. Read more. 

9:14am – A COVID-19 vaccine trial from Moderna is showing encouraging results, according to a report from The New York Times.

The company is operating its trial on an accelerate timeline, as it prepares to enter into its second phase with 600 patients. It hopes to be ready for its third phase by July. If the vaccine proves effective, Moderna says it can have doses ready to distribute by late 2020/early 2021.

8:26am – With Major League Baseball continuing to be on hold due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, what’s the prognosis for the 2020 season? Read more. 

7:42am – With barbershops on the list of businesses that will be permitted to reopen in Phase 2 of Gov. Inslee’s plan, many are already laying down the groundwork to ensure they’re ready to keep their customers safe. Read more. 

6:38am – Washington state health workers received a puzzling shipment last week, after opening a shipment of what they thought would be 68,000 nasal swabs for coronavirus testing. What they found instead were dozens of boxes of Q-tips, which are decidedly not suitable for testing purposes.

Testing swabs must be sterilized, and individually packed in order to avoid contamination. The boxes of Q-tips were packaged together, making it so state officials had to conduct quality assurance before it could use any of them.

“After almost 80 days, this is what we get?” Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said on Twitter.” [We] need a serious federal procurement and distribution plan NOW.”

6:14am – A King County directive asking that people wear masks in some public places went into effect today. Here’s what you need to know.

5:27am – Bellevue’s Overlake Medical Center has been one of a handful of hospitals conducting research on remdesivir as a potential treatment for COVID-19. So far, results have been promising.

“This particular medication decreased the hospital stays for patients with COVID-19, (and) may have had an impact on hospital mortality as well, so we think it’s helping people,” Overlake Dr. Todd Freudenberger said in a recent YouTube Q&A.

Last week’s updates

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