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Coronavirus coverage for Spokane County from April 3 - April 5

Find developments on the coronavirus outbreak in Washington state and Spokane County and we work together to separate facts from fear:

SPOKANE, Wash. — Key Facts: 

Read previous daily coronavirus updates from April 1 - April 2 here

Sunday, April 5

2:02 p.m.

Spokane Regional Health District (SPHD) has confirmed the total number of positive coronavirus cases is now 219 with 11 COVID-19-related deaths. 

SRHD says they are working with health care providers and the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) to identify and reach out to those who may have come in contact with the infected individuals. Confirmed cases will be monitored for fever and respiratory symptoms.

12:01 p.m.

The Panhandle Health District (PHD) announces the total number of cases of COVID-19 is 44 in the Panhandle area. 42 of the cases are in Kootenai County and two in Bonner County. 

PHD says the community transmission is in Kootenai County. Some of the confirmed cases are not connected to travel or contact with a confirmed case.

Saturday, April 4

8:00 p.m.

Two North Spokane Walmart Employees Test Positive for Coronavirus. The store plans to disinfect the following areas:

  • front entrance, carts, registers and bathrooms
  • food areas and all high-touch surfaces.
  • back offices, break rooms, and other areas utilized exclusively by Walmart workers. 

Walmart has stated that they plan to provide gloves and masks for workers that would like to use them at work, and screen associates prior to work as well as check their temperature before each shift.

3:33 p.m.

The Great Spokane Emergency Management team announced that there are 209 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Spokane along with 10 coronavirus-related deaths. There have been 34 total hospitalizations.

According to the Spokane Regional Health District, a total of 3711 individuals have been tested, with 135 (3.6%) individuals testing positive. A total of 3,576 individuals have tested negative (96.4%).

1:55 p.m. 

Spokane Parks and Recreation announced all dog parks will close to increase social distancing.

The organization gave an update on their Facebook page that all City of Spokane parks and trails are still available as long as dogs remain on a leash for walking purposes only.

Friday, April 3

4:08 p.m. 

The Washington State Department of Health says a total of 284 people have died of coronavirus statewide as of Friday among 6,966 cases. 

3:35 p.m. 

Gov. Jay Inslee has vetoed hundreds of millions of dollars of spending in hopes of making a dent in the loss of state revenues as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to keep the state’s economy largely shut down. 

Inslee vetoed nearly two dozen bills in their entirety, and more than 140 separate budget items in the state supplemental budget. 

“We cannot sleepwalk our way through this fiscal crisis,” said Gov. Inslee during a news conference about the budget Friday. “I want people to know I share the pain of those decisions.”

The total savings over the next three years is $445 million. All of the veto letters state that circumstances “have changed dramatically” since the budget was approved by the Legislature last month.

3 p.m.

President Trump said Friday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising the use of non-medical cloth face coverings as a "voluntary" measure to help protect yourself from coronavirus (COVID-19). 

The CDC said Friday according to recent studies, a significant portion of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms (asymptomatic) and even those who eventually develop symptoms can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms. 

CDC experts said this means the virus can be spread between people interacting in close proximity, such as speaking, coughing, or sneezing, even if those people are not showing symptoms.

For those reasons, the CDC said it's recommending wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult, such as at the grocery store. 

Read more from the CDC here.

1:48 p.m. 

Dutch Bros. Coffee announced Friday it intends to donate all of its April profits to help medical workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus (COVID-19) fight.

“We truly believe we’re all better together. Giving back to our customers and neighbors is part of our DNA,” said Travis Boersma, CEO of Dutch Bros. “We’re so thankful to be able to support and serve our communities during this unprecedented situation.”

The money will go directly to First Responders First, an initiative providing essential supplies and equipment to protect healthcare workers and their patients. 

10:30 a.m.

Dr. Bob Lutz reiterated statement from earlier this week that Spokane County is not seeing a flattening of the curve.

“Whereas it’s been stated that the state is flattening the curve to some degree, I think that’s a relative statement," he said on Friday.

To make this determination, Lutz says health leaders look at a combination of data points, including the number of tests being done and who is being tested, the number of hospitalizations and emergency room visits and trends from across the state. 

Lutz added that Spokane County is still seeing an increase of 10 to 20% in cases every day.

Read more about when COVID-19 could peak in Washington state here

10:15 a.m.

The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission says despite parks across the state shutting down, many people "from all over are still flocking to Washington's ocean beaches. 

"Visitors are overwhelming local communities' resources," a Facebook post reads. "Local cities and counties have put up barricades at ocean beach approaches to try to keep people from driving on the beach. But people are moving the barricades and going on the beach anyway." 

10:15 a.m.

Spokane Public Schools buildings will remain closed until May 4 now that Gov. Jay Inslee has extended the "stay home" order to May 4.

10 a.m.

Spokane County Health Officer Dr. Bob Lutz reports seven deaths among 194 cases of COVID-19 in Spokane County. 

One of the two new reported deaths is a man who was in his 70s, while the other was a man who was in his 60s. 

6:30 a.m.

Passengers from an ill-fated cruise are being allowed to touch dry land for the first time in weeks.

They'll be disembarking in Fort Lauderdale all day Friday following the removal of 14 critically ill people, who were wheeled off to Florida hospitals bracing for an onslaught of coronavirus patients.

The exodus from the Zaandaam and Rotterdam will be followed by the Coral Princess, which arrives Saturday. Buses will be taking people healthy enough to travel directly to the airport, where they’ll board chartered flights home without going through the terminal. Hundreds of crew members will remain on dozens of cruise ships docked or waiting around Florida.

5:10 a.m. 

The Spokane Regional Health District reports there are five coronavirus deaths in Spokane County, 182 positive cases, and five hospitalizations. 

4:45 a.m.

The number of U.S. deaths from COVID-19 passed 6,000 early Friday morning, an increase of approximately 2,000 in the span of about 48 hours. That's according to numbers from Johns Hopkins University. More than 1/4 of those are in New York City.

The U.S. passed 4,000 early Wednesday morning. Before midnight Wednesday, it passed 5,000. The total reached 6,053 just before 1 a.m. ET Friday.

The U.S. has 245,540 cases as of midnight ET Friday morning and more than 9,100 recoveries. There are 262 deaths among 6,585 cases of COVID-19 in Washington, according to the state Department of Health.  

The worldwide total of confirmed COVID-19 cases is just over 1 million with 53,000 deaths and 211,000 recoveries.

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