Where cases stand in Washington:
- 762 new cases reported Thursday and 14 new deaths, according to the Washington State Department of Health.
- Total: 1,482 deaths among 50,009 overall cases in Washington state.
- 870,763 people in Washington have taken a coronavirus test, and 5.7% of those tests were positive.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released resources for parents, teachers and schools Thursday as they consider whether to reopen this fall and whether children should go back amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The resources include a "Decision-Making Tool" for parents and caregivers to help them weigh the risks and benefits of going back. It's a checklist with 30 questions that weighs the risks of COVID-19, whether the child and their school are ready, the child's ability to learn from home and the child's academic and social well-being.
Gov. Jay Inslee has announced plans to implement more restrictions on businesses, wedding ceremonies, funerals and fitness centers in Washington to continue to limit the spread of COVID-19 as the state is seeing a resurgence of cases.
Indoor dining at restaurants will now be limited to members of the same household only. For counties in Phase 3, there may only be five people at a table and total occupancy cannot exceed 50%. Previously, counties in Phase 3 could have 10 people or less to a table at a restaurant and 75% occupancy.
Cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. reached a significant, concerning mark on Thursday, topping more than 4 million in total.
The milestone comes a day after the global total of coronavirus cases passed 15 million. And the nation got another dose of bad economic news Thursday as the number of laid-off workers seeking jobless benefits rose last week for the first time since late March, intensifying concerns the resurgent coronavirus is stalling or even reversing the economic recovery.
Washington State University updated its plans Thursday for students attending the school in the fall of 2020.
The university announced on its website it will only offer online learning in the fall. All undergraduate courses at WSU Pullman will be done remotely with extremely limited exceptions for in-person instruction. Other WSU campuses will announce their plans at a later date.
The number of laid-off Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose last week for the first time since the pandemic struck in March, evidence of the deepening economic pain the outbreak is causing to the economy.
The rise in weekly jobless claims to 1.4 million underscores the outsize role the unemployment insurance system is playing among the nation’s safety net programs — just when a $600 weekly federal aid payment for the jobless is set to expire at the end of this week.
Senate Republicans and the White House reached tentative agreement for more testing funds in the next COVID-19 relief package, but deep disagreements over the scope of the $1 trillion in federal aid remain ahead of Thursday's expected roll out.
Facing a GOP revolt, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was preparing a “handful” of separate COVID-19 aid bills, according to a top lawmaker involved in the negotiations. McConnell is set to unveil the package on Thursday, according to a Republican unauthorized to discuss the private talks and granted anonymity.
As the 2020-21 school year gets closer in Washington state, many school districts are announcing plans for how education will continue in the fall amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Here is a list of the school districts in western Washington that have announced whether they will be conductingvvvv in-person learning, remote learning or a combination of both.
