Editor’s note: This is a live account of COVID-19 updates from Sunday, April 11 as the day unfolded. It is no longer being updated. Click here to see all the most recent news about the pandemic, and click here to find additional resources.
With Gov. Jay Inslee set to announce Monday whether some Washington counties will be pushed back into more restrictive coronavirus rules, nearly 70 state business organizations are pressing him to hold off any such move.
All counties are now in Phase 3 of the state’s coronavirus restrictions. Moving counties back into Phase 2 would hurt struggling businesses while doing little to halt the spread of the COVID-19, the groups said in a letter.
Meanwhile, the state Legislature looks close to passing a first-in-the-nation bill that would guarantee low-income tenants the right to legal representation when faced with an eviction. The state’s eviction moratorium is set to expire June 30, leading to fears of a surge in people being forced out of their apartments.
We’re updating this page with the latest news about the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the Seattle area, the U.S. and the world.
Click here to see previous days’ live updates and all our other coronavirus coverage, and here to see how we track the daily spread across Washington and the world.
Maskless Florida woman who coughed on Pier 1 customer gets 30 days in jail
A Florida woman who, without wearing a mask, purposefully coughed on another customer in a Pier 1 store last year has been sentenced to 30 days in jail.
Debra Hunter, 53, will serve time in Duval County Jail, followed by six months of probation, an anger management course and a $500 fine for second-degree assault, a misdemeanor.
Judge James Ruth said in the Thursday sentencing that Hunter’s mid-coronavirus pandemic actions on June 25 could have had “deadly consequences” for the victim, Heather Sprague – who was undergoing treatment after the removal of a brain tumor – or her family.
The judge also said that although Hunter was extremely concerned about the well-being of her own family, who had been “permanently scarred” as a result of her actions, she showed little remorse for the trauma she inflicted on Sprague and her loved ones.
AstraZeneca Vaccine and Blood Clots: What Is Known So Far
The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine has been deployed against COVID-19 in at least 115 countries, some of them for several months now. But it was not until a few cases of a rare blood-clotting disorder — some fatal — emerged within the past month or so that many European nations began to rethink its use across all age groups.
Several of those countries, well stocked with alternate vaccines, have now limited use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford shot to older people, and a few have stopped using it altogether. While the incidence of these clotting disorders is extremely low, regulators and researchers are trying to raise public awareness of certain symptoms — including headaches, leg swelling and abdominal pain — especially in younger people who have been vaccinated.
Public health experts, however, have expressed concern that publicity surrounding the rare vaccine-related reactions will fuel hesitancy, a particular problem in Europe. They continue to emphasize that the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine’s benefits far outweigh the risks. In many nations, it is the only vaccine available.
We bring you answers to some some frequently asked questions.
How Epidemiologists Are Planning to Vacation With Their Unvaccinated Kids
Families are facing a dilemma this year: They are itching to take a summer vacation, but their kids are not vaccinated. What to do?
The mental gymnastics involved in answering this question are exhausting.Our decision-making is clouded by unanswered questions about immunity, virus mutations and what case numbers will look like in the summer.
The most conservative approach would be to wait a while longer and see how things shake out. But people are burned out from lockdowns, and vacation venues are selling out. At this point, all we really want to know is: What can we do this summer?
So we asked epidemiologists and other public health experts — a pretty cautious group — what they are planning for their own summer vacations.
For immigrants, IDs prove to be a barrier to a dose of protection
Immigrants have been turned away from pharmacies and other places after being asked for driver’s licenses, Social Security numbers or health insurance cards – specific documentation not mandated by states or the federal government but often requested at vaccination sites across the country.
Often the request comes in English, a language many of the vaccine-seekers don’t fully understand.
Some state agencies and businesses that provide vaccinations have acknowledged the problem and vowed that it will stop.
Maria Sousa’s family wasn’t willing to take the risk.
