A peer-reviewed study published in the journal Nature is raising questions over the usefulness of developing a new omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccine for the upcoming fall as the virus continues to mutate and evolve rapidly.
Meanwhile, police in Beijing detained 17 COVID-19 lab employees for not testing samples properly, making infections not detectable and increasing the risk of community spread, according to officials.
At the same time, widespread disbelief has resulted from North Korea’s report that 3.3 million people have been reported sick with COVID-19 and only 69 have died from the virus. Experts say the death toll is likely much higher due to the number of undernourished people, lack of vaccines, critical care facilities and COVID-19 test kits.
We’re updating this page with the latest news about the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the Seattle area, the U.S. and the world. Click here to see the rest of our coronavirus coverage and here to see how we track the daily spread across Washington.
Med-spa doctor sent to prison in COVID ‘cure’ smuggling attempt
Dr. Jennings Staley was particularly enamored with the promise of hydroxychloroquine, and its money-making power, in the early days of the pandemic.
The anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine had been touted by President Donald Trump, conservative outlets and some medical professionals as a possible antidote to COVID-19, and he wanted to be able to sell it to patients at his Skinny Beach Med Spa locations around Southern California.
But the controversial drug — a “miracle cure,” he told an undercover agent — wasn’t easy to come by.
Desperate to obtain it, the San Diego physician agreed with a Chinese supplier’s suggestion to mislabel a 26-pound shipment as “yam extract” to get around customs authorities.
On Friday, Staley, 47, was sentenced in San Diego federal court to one month in prison, followed by one year of home confinement, for the deceit.
Gov. Inslee to visit Tri-Cities. Is it too soon after he tested positive for COVID?
Gov. Jay Inslee is scheduled to visit the Tri-Cities on Thursday, for the grand opening of the LIGO Exploration Center and a briefing on Hanford site environmental cleanup.
But plans were made before he tested positive for COVID-19 this week, on Wednedsay, and had what he described as “very mild symptoms.”
His staff has pointed out that the guidance for the governor’s office allows employees to return to work five full days after a positive test if their symptoms are improving and they have no fever for 24 hours.
That is in line with recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But the CDC also recommends that people who have tested positive for COVID-19 not travel in the U.S. until a full 10 days after their symptoms started.
The week in fake news: COVID-19 vaccines didn’t cause monkeypox outbreak
Claim: The chimpanzee adenovirus vector used in AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine is causing the monkeypox outbreak.
The facts: Adenoviruses and poxviruses are unrelated, and monkeys and chimpanzees are different species.
While the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine uses a harmless, weakened chimp adenovirus to trigger an immune response, the strain has been altered so it cannot infect humans, nor could it cause monkeypox.
Prevention techniques, treatment helping keep COVID hospitalizations down in WA
COVID-19 continues to spread across Washington, and quickly.
But with prevention techniques like masking, treatment like Paxlovid, and vaccines and boosters, health officials are not concerned yet of hospitals becoming overwhelmed.
COVID-19 hospitalizations have not reached a point yet where hospitals are again struggling to find intensive care unit beds or to deliver normal care, said Dr. Dan Getz, chief medical officer at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.
“It’s really a slow rise,” he said. “That’s the whole point of the measures we implemented.”
Those measures include things like getting vaccinated and boosted when eligible. Department of Health officials on Wednesday also recommended masking indoors, though they are not implementing a mask requirement yet.
“This is the time for us to remind ourselves that this pandemic is not over,” said Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah.
How the pandemic vintage car boom priced collectors out
Budget-minded vintage car collectors, competing with Americans who took an interest in the vehicles as a pastime over the past couple of years, have found themselves increasingly priced out of the market for cars that were once considered cheap fun and are now in high demand.
Undeterred, however, many buyers are determined to find the next best thing. Enter the principle of substitution.
It is a financial term that has been appropriated and somewhat inaccurately applied by entry-level vintage car shoppers — those with about $25,000 to spend. It is a tongue-in-cheek response to the question of what to buy when a coveted car has appreciated beyond reach, an all-too-frequent occurrence during this period of wild appreciation in their hobby. The median value of a collector car in good condition soared 20% in January from a year earlier and 4% more in the first three months of this year, according to Hagerty, a specialty insurer.
Lawsuit demanding access to COVID vaccines in WA state prisons is dismissed
A class-action lawsuit from last year demanding COVID-19 vaccines be immediately provided to all people incarcerated in Washington state prisons was dismissed Friday, as the bulk of the lawsuit’s demands have been met.
Ruling from the bench Friday, Thurston County Superior Court Judge James Dixon said that the state Department of Corrections had essentially complied with the lawsuit’s two chief demands.
The lawsuit, filed in March 2021 by Columbia Legal Services, a legal aid group, demanded that people in state prisons be offered the vaccine “immediately” and that unvaccinated staff be banned from contact with incarcerated people.
