Key facts:
- 10 new deaths from coronavirus reported Sunday in Washington state, bringing the total to 634 among 11,790 total cases in the state.
- Washington's unemployment system is back up and running and includes the expansion of benefits.
- 19 coronavirus deaths among 315 cases in Spokane County
- 59 people hospitalized in Spokane County to date and 15 remain hospitalized
Tuesday, April 21
Deal reached on parts of $500 billion virus aid
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer says an agreement has been reached on major elements of a nearly $500 billion coronavirus aid package for small businesses, as well as additional help for hospitals and virus testing.
Schumer said post-midnight talks among Democratic and Republican leaders, along with Trump administration officials, including White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, produced a breakthrough agreement on the package.
He said he hoped the package could be voted on Tuesday afternoon in the Senate.
Monday, April 20
President Trump to suspend immigration
President Donald Trump announced that he will be signing an executive order to temporarily stop immigration into the United States in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus.
In a Tweet, the President said: "In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!"
In recent weeks the president has referred to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as "the invisible enemy."
It is not entirely clear what prompted this decision at this time or what effect the decision will have on U.S. border operations and border crossings.
The decision also does not appear yet to address those who hold green cards.
There was no mention of when the order will be signed or how long it will remain in effect.
There have been more than 41,000 deaths in the U.S., with more than 71,000 recoveries.
Washington state hits record for unemployment applications in one day, as state launches coronavirus unemployment relief
At the launch of new relief measures in response to the coronavirus economic crisis, the Washington State Employment Security Department received more applications for benefits in a single day than last week, which was already the biggest week on record, the state agency reported.
More than 182,000 logged in to apply for unemployment benefits, including expanded, extended and traditional benefits. For comparison, the 182,000 applications in a week was already seven times the peak week for the 2008/2009 recession, according to the agency.
On Saturday, the system was taken down to allow for the expansion of unemployment benefits enabled by the federal CARES Act. The system went back online on Sunday, but the volume caused problems for people trying to log in. The Employment Security Department reported volumes on Sunday of up to 500,000 per hour.
Spokane Co. Press Briefing
During a briefing on Monday morning, Spokane County Health Officer Dr. Bob Lutz addressed those who are protesting Washington state's stay-at-home order and demanding that the economy reopen.
Thousands of protesters gathered at the state Capitol on Sunday afternoon to rally against Gov. Jay Inslee's order.
“I think it’s irresponsible of people to say open it up. It’s selfishness. It’s pure selfishness," Lutz said in response.
He added that he is exercising caution about reopening the economy too early as it could lead to another surge in cases.
“It’s Pandora’s box. It’s that monster behind the door. ...We don’t like what we see, we opened things up, and we have to slam the door shut," he said.
Lutz also said that he has been in conversation with local and state leaders about reopening the economy, but was not involved in the discussion between Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward and Inslee about a different approach for the Spokane area.
“I do, however, know that it’s a challenge for me to look at opening up things differently locally and regionally versus at a state level," Lutz said.
“I do think that we need to be consistent with our guidance," he added.
Lutz also touched on local efforts to identify any possible contaminated coronavirus test kits that may be in Spokane County.
“Long story short, we need more test materials and we need more testing capacity locally," he said.
US-Canada border restrictions extended
Restrictions on non-essential travel across the U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico borders were extended for 30 days on Monday.
"As President Trump stated last week, border control, travel restrictions and other limitations remain critical to slowing the spread and allowing the phased opening of the country," Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said in a statement.
UW analysis: Washington could ease social distancing guidelines week of May 18
Under a prediction released Friday from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Washington state could consider easing social distancing guidelines the week of May 18.
This is based on the state reaching a threshold of one COVID-19 infection per 1 million people, which IHME said was a "conservative estimate" for the number of infections each location would reasonably be able to identify to prevent coronavirus from resurging.
The prediction assumes Washington stays on the same epidemic trajectory and keeps its current containment strategies in place, including testing, contact tracing and mass gathering restrictions.
Trump, Congress near deal on small business, hospital aid
The Trump administration and Congress expect an agreement Monday on a coronavirus aid package of up to $450 billion.
It would boost a small-business loan program that has run out of money and add funds for hospitals and COVID-19 testing. President Donald Trump said Sunday the administration is "very close to a deal.”
The Senate is scheduled for a pro forma session Monday, but no vote has been set. The House announced it could meet as soon as Wednesday for a vote.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said he is hopeful of a deal that could pass Congress quickly and get the small business payroll program back up by midweek.
Sunday, April 19
State health department recalls 12,000 coronavirus kits for possible contamination
On April 17, the Washington State Department of Health was alerted by UW Medicine to discontinue the use of a recently-procured batch of coronavirus testing kits that UW said may have a quality control issue.
As a result, the DOH recalled approximately 12,000 kits sent to local health jurisdictions, tribal nations, and state agency partners across the state. This was done out of an abundance of caution.
Viral transport media (VTM) is the fluid that preserves a specimen during transport, like one collected via nasal swab from a person being tested for coronavirus. Some of the vials of VTM were an unusual color, which prompted UW Medicine to reach out to DOH to work together to investigate potential contamination.
DOH officials believe there is no health risk to patients as the VTM does not come in contact with patients during a COVID-19 test.
The “quality issues” in the collection kits did not impact testing results.
