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Coronavirus updates for Spokane County from March 31 - April 1

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

Key Facts: 

  • 247 Coronavirus deaths among at least 5,984 overall cases in Washington.
  • 65,462 individuals have been tested, 8% of those tests were positive.  
  • Seven coronavirus deaths among 177 cases in Spokane County 
  • An employee with the Spokane Transit Authority has tested positive for coronavirus 
  • Track the statewide outbreak with this map of Washington counties. 

Read previous daily coronavirus updates from March 30-31 here

Wednesday, April 1

7:50 p.m.: SPS considering pass/fail grading, credit waivers

Spokane Public Schools announced its considering a proposal allowing high school students to have the option of pass/fail grades in their classes during the coronavirus pandemic and would allow seniors to apply for credit waivers.

According to a letter to parents on Wednesday, the SPS School Board reviewed the proposal, but the plan depends on guidance that is yet to be finalized from the State Board of Education.

In March, Governor Jay Inslee announced the closure of all K-12 schools in the state in response to the coronavirus outbreak, with the current date for reopening set at April 27.

People can ask about the proposal during a live question-and-answer session at 4:30 p.m. on KREM on Thursday.

5:50 p.m. 

An employee with the Spokane Transit Authority has tested positive for coronavirus, according to a memo from CEO E. Susan Meyer.

Meyer said in the memo that the employee notified STA about their positive test result on Tuesday.

The employee began self-isolating last week after recognizing possible symptoms, according to the memo. The Spokane Regional Health District has instructed the employee to inform those with whom they had close contact about the test results, and will notify STA if additional actions or investigations are necessary.

The employee has mild symptoms and is "recovering well," the memo says.

4:35 p.m.

Starting this week, the Washington National Guard will be helping local communities with processing, packaging, and distributing meals. The National Guard will not be utilized in any law enforcement capacity to enforce restrictions put in place by Gov. Jay Inslee. 

Guardsmen will be sent to local food banks in Chelan, Franklin, King, Pierce, and Walla Walla counties. 

3:23 p.m.

The Spokane Lilac Festival Armed Forces Torchlight Parade has been postponed from May 16 to July 25, 2020 due to coronavirus concerns. 

"This was a difficult decision by the Festival’s Board and Directors made after consultation with the City of Spokane, other regional festival leadership and Lilac Festival sponsors.  We are hopeful that the timing of the Festival in July will be an opportunity for Spokane and its neighbors to celebrate our nation’s recovery from this trying time," Spokane Lilac Festival President Dan VerHeul wrote in a press release. 

VerHeul said there may be fewer participants in the parade this year due to the postponement. However, he is confident it will still be a crowd pleasing event. 

3:18 p.m.

Starting Monday, Spokane Transit will reduce services.

The are suspending express routes that typically carry morning and evening commuters due to significantly reduce ridership due to the 'stay home' order.

Express routes impacted by implementing Level 3 Service include:

  • Route 124 – North Express
  • Route 144 – South Express
  • Route 172 – Liberty Lake Express
  • Route 173 – Valley Transit Center Express
  • Route 190 – Valley Express

2 p.m. 

Recalling Washington’s manufacturing efforts in World War II, Gov. Jay Inslee called for the state’s manufacturers volunteer to help create more equipment, including testing and medical gear, to help in the fight against the novel coronavirus.

He called for companies to step up to augment the 1 million pieces of equipment already supplied by the state and federal government, and hospitals and medical clinics.

"We know this, what we have done so far is not enough. We rather urgently need to increase the stocks of personal protective equipment," he said.

Inslee said that the state has requested equipment from the federal government.

“The federal government has not been able to supply them to us fast enough to meet the need,” he said.

He said not only does the state need surgical masks, face shields and gowns, but also testing equipment such as swabs, testing medium and vials.

He said that the need is almost "infinite," given how many nurses, doctors, medical staff, fire fighters and police officers need personal protective equipment, as well as people working in other essential services such as grocery store workers, transit workers and others who come into contact with the public.

“The fact of the matter is, we need to seize our own destiny,” he said, recalling the manufacturing of aircraft and other equipment during the World War II.

"We have to put pedal to the metal on a voluntary basis in the state of Washington," Inslee said.

Inslee also said the state is working with financial institutions to provide people with mortgage forbearance.

It was also announced at the press conference that more than 130 National Guard members would be deployed to help food banks, but Inslee said these members wouldn't be used to enforce "stay home" order rules. 

He also said it will probably be necessary to extend the order, but his office isn't ready to make a formal announcement yet.

10:30 a.m.

Spokane County Health Officer Dr. Bob Lutz said health officials have not identified clusters of COVID-19 cases in the Spokane community.  

Lutz added that county health leaders have put in requests for more COVID-19 test kits and he is aware of a large shipment of materials that arrived on Tuesday. He was unsure of what exact materials the shipment contained, but personal protective equipment was included. 

When Lutz last spoke with those running the testing site at the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds, they had several hundred tests remaining, he said. 

10 a.m. 

Spokane County is almost three weeks into its local outbreak.

The first cases were identified in Spokane County on March 14 and 158 individuals have been "tentatively identified" with COVID-19, according to Spokane County Health Officer Dr. Bob Lutz.

Lutz said county health officials are still awaiting official confirmation on numbers from the state Department of Health.

Lutz also reported five deaths related to COVID-19 in Spokane County. 

The testing site at the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds will remain closed on Wednesday. Lutz said county health officials have found a new site and they hope to open it by about 10 a.m. on Thursday.

The new site, located at Barn A, is enclosed and better suited for inclement weather, Lutz added. 

Spokane County leaders added that 600 county employees are now telecommuting. 

6 a.m.

The Washington State Department of Health says it is experiencing technical difficulties with its disease reporting system that is being used to track coronavirus cases.

Outside a pandemic, the Washington Disease Reporting System is used to report positive results only. The tool is now tracking negative results for coronavirus, which is overwhelming the system.

The department is working to fix the issue, as well as alternatives such as a separate reporting tool for negative cases. 

"DOH will share additional updates if this problem persists. We cannot provide an estimate for the next release of numbers, but are working diligently toward that goal," the department said in a statement. 

5:40 a.m.

The Spokane Regional Health District lists 27 people hospitalized with the coronavirus in Spokane County. That's up from 22 people the day before.

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