Category: Washington

Making Gyms Safer: Why the Virus Is Less Likely to Spread There Than in a Bar

Gyms are reopening with fewer people and more protocols, and they want to rehabilitate their pandemic-battered image. Although there’s not much evidence, they say science is on their side.

As Crisis Grows, Farms Try to Balance Health of Field Workers and Food Supply

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

As Crisis Grows, Farms Try to Balance Health of Field Workers and Food Supply

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

Hospital Merger in Washington State Stokes Fears About Catholic Limits on Care

Virginia Mason Health System and CHI Franciscan announced plans in July to merge 12 hospitals and more than 250 other treatment sites in the Puget Sound region and the Yakima area. Some patient advocacy groups warn the proposal would jeopardize access to needed services, such as emergency termination of pregnancies, contraception and physician aid in dying.

Scientists Want to Know More About Using UV Light to Fight COVID-19 Spread

‘Germicidal’ ultraviolet light technology has a proven track record against indoor transmission of tuberculosis and other airborne microbes. It’s now being used in some restaurants and on subways.

Hype Collides With Science As FDA Tries To Rein In ‘Wild West’ of COVID Blood Tests

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.

‘We Miss Them All So Much’: Grandparents Ache As The COVID Exile Grinds On

The pandemic has forced millions of families to weigh the risks of vulnerable grandparents getting too close to their beloved grandchildren — against the heartache of staying away.

Hospital Workers Complain of Minimal Disclosure After COVID Exposures

From cafeteria staff to doctors and nurses, hospital workers around the country report frustrating failures by management to notify them when they have been exposed to co-workers or patients known to be infected with COVID-19.

Eerie Emptiness Of ERs Worries Doctors As Heart Attack And Stroke Patients Delay Care

Emergency department volumes are down 40 to 50 percent across the country. Doctors worry a new wave of cardiac patients is headed their way — people who have delayed care and will be sicker and more injured when they finally seek care.

‘You Pray That You Got The Drug.’ Ailing Couple Gambles On Trial For COVID-19 Cure

Josie and George Taylor of Everett, Washington, are two of the first people in the U.S. to recover from novel coronavirus infections after joining a clinical trial for the antiviral drug remdesivir.