covid 19

It's been a few years since COVID-19 brought a screeching halt to our society and changed the way we live. The virus is still out there, but we're not seeing it in the kinds of numbers that were so frightening when it first began.

A hearing in Douglas County Superior Court was held Tuesday on the claim of 55-year-old Christian Edward White that his trial in a Waterville courtroom was closed to the public.

Confluence Health is now going to allow unvaccinated staff to work on hospital grounds, after meeting certain requirements.

“When we go to work and we’re short and it’s a bad day, somebody died when they didn’t have to,” Sara Morgan Bergenholtz said. "That's why people are leaving.”

The attorney representing the 94 plaintiffs filed a motion last Thursday, saying Judge Brian Huber dismissed the case without considering Confluence Health's failure to accommodate their religious practices.

Washington is one of a handful of states to still have active emergency orders in place. North Carolina ended that state’s order last month.

The vaccination rate of hospitals and doctor's offices in North Central Washington varies by a wide range. Chelan Douglas Health District Chief Health Officer Dr. James Wallace says there's almost a 15 percent swing among its partners. "Across the region, wer're seeing anywhere from 1% to as high as 15% of folks employed not getting vaccinated," said Wallace ...

School districts in Washington could lose state funding if they don't follow Governor Jay Inslee's new COVID-19 orders. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal has filed an emergency rule to penalize schools that "willfully" violate them ...

12th District Senator Brad Hawkins says making school employees, regardless of age, eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine is good news. "The people on the frontlines, helping our state fulfill its paramount duty regarding education deserve to be protected ...