coronavirus

British Columbia also is dealing with the novel coronavirus outbreak. The Canadian province that shares a border with Washington has had more than 30 people test positive for COVID-19 and has recorded its first death. KNKX Morning Edition host Kirsten Kendrick talked with reporter Craig McCulloch in Vancouver, B.C. on March 10, 2020.

Anyone over 60 is considered at high risk for the new coronavirus. As a result, a lot of community centers have cancelled activities for seniors. But, the Central Area Senior Center in Seattle, which primarily serves African Americans, is still offering meals and activities while working to keep members safe.

Two of the state’s largest school districts are closing for at least two weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak, affecting more than 80,000 students.

This story was last updated at 4:50 p.m.

Gov. Jay Inslee has announced mandatory social distancing measures for three Washington counties in response to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. In a news conference Wednesday morning, Inslee said he’s prohibiting events and gatherings of more than 250 people in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties.

UPDATE, March 17, 2:15 p.m.: KNKX Public Radio is working to keep you updated on the latest developments of the outbreak of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus. In addition to bringing you daily stories and updates on air during Morning Edition and All Things Considered, we’ve compiled a list of comprehensive resources.

You can find the latest numbers from officials tracking confirmed cases, as well as up-to-date announcements from agencies responding to the pandemic. If you have questions that aren’t answered here, or ideas about people we should talk to or stories we should cover, email outreach@knkx.org. We’ve also started a podcast, Transmission, about life in the heart of this outbreak. You can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

There are 17 doctors in Congress — 14 in the House, and three in the Senate. U.S. Rep. Kim Schrier, D-Sammamish, is one of them, and the only representing Washington state. Her 8th Congressional District includes a lot of King, Pierce, Kittitas and Chelan counties, as well as a small portion of Douglas County.

Schrier tells KNKX the doctors elected to Congress are talking to each other, but deferring to the scientific members of the administration, such as experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health.

UPDATE, March 10: Adds information about Amazon's fund to help nearby small businesses and Gov. Jay Inslee's announcement about additional support for businesses and workers.

For the Seattle region, the novel coronavirus presents a significant public health challenge — and also a threat to people’s livelihoods.

The economic impact is already being felt. Hotels face cancellations, restaurants have empty tables, and a major economic driver for Seattle, the Emerald City Comic Con, which was set to start this week, has been postponed. Large employers including Microsoft and Amazon have asked employees to work from home, limiting commerce near their campuses.

While lots of people are feeling frightened or inconvenienced by the novel coronavirus, at least one group is also financially devastated: geoduck divers. They normally sell the huge, iconic bivalves as a luxury export item, primarily for customers in China. Not right now. 

Officials across the Puget Sound region are bracing for the novel coronavirus to hit homeless shelters and encampments, where they say the virus could pose more of a threat than in the general population. 

Discussion of the virus is expected to dominate a meeting of service providers Friday in Pierce County, where cases have yet to be reported. 

With the novel coronavirus outbreak continuing to grow in the Seattle area, a lot of people are working from home and rethinking large public gatherings. Right now, Saturday night's soccer match between the Seattle Sounders and Columbus Crew is still happening at CenturyLink Field. Fans who do attend will find additional hand sanitizer stations and cleaning wipes at concession stands.

KNKX sports commentator Art Thiel talked with Morning Edition host Kirsten Kendrick about how major health threats have impacted sports in our region — past and present. 

UPDATE, March 6, 2:55 pm: Adds that Lake Washington Superintendent Jane Stavem has announced her resignation as she takes a new position in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The east side of Lake Washington is where the state has seen a number of novel coronavirus cases, including deaths. Two school districts there are taking different approaches to the outbreak.

As new information emerges about coronavirus and COVID-19, seemingly multiple times a day, we wanted to take a moment and go back over the basics. Good basic information can do a lot to help in a crisis, and provide a foundation to make sense of new developments.

KNKX spoke with Dr. Ann Marie Kimball, professor emeritus at University of Washington School of Medicine. She also started the APEC Emerging Infections Network, to look at new illnesses emerging from highly populous countries in Asia.

The novel coronavirus outbreak means that school district leaders are faced with making tough calls about whether to keep schools open.

District superintendents closed schools on Monday in Bothell, Renton, Kingston, Covington and Mukilteo. The Lake Washington School District, which encompasses the Kirkland hospital where the state’s coronavirus deaths have occurred, has not closed schools, in spite of an online petition that’s received thousands of signatures.