Coronavirus daily news updates, June 5: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the world – Seattle Times

George Floyd protests have continued for a full week in Seattle and throughout Washington state, and despite the increased risks of the new coronavirus local public health professionals and leaders have supported the protests, both tacitly and explicitly.

Gov. Jay Inslee, who for months has been both pleading with and ordering people to stay home to slow the spread of the virus, is nowasking that people instead wear masks and try to keep some distance amid the crowds. However, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told a House panel Thursday that demonstrators need to get tested for the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the city of Seattle and the state of Washington are expanding testing for the coronavirus, the governor and mayors office announced Thursday. In Seattle, two new drive-thru sites are opening soon, one of which will be accessible starting Friday.

Throughout Friday, on this page, well post updates from Seattle Times journalists and others on the pandemic and its effects on the Seattle area, the Pacific Northwest and the world. Updates from Thursday can be found here, and all our coronavirus coverage can be found here.

The following graphic includes the most recent numbers from the Washington State Department of Health, released Wednesday.

The largest outbreak of COVID-19 cases in Washingtons prison system is expanding at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center in Franklin County.

As of Thursday, 40 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19, as well as 12 staff, according to the state Department of Corrections.

A spokesperson for DOC said in an email the facility is trying to contain the outbreak through a 10-day quarantine and contact tracing of persons who may have had close contact with infected individuals.

According to the spokesperson, the prison had tested 74 incarcerated people as of Thursday, in both the medium- and minimum-security units. Thirteen people have been transferred to Monroe Correctional Complexs medical isolation area and 20 to Airway Heights Corrections Center. Three others have been sent to a local medical center.

All inmates at the prison are required to wear a protective mask when they leave cells during the quarantine, and the prison has implemented social-distancing protocols, according to the DOC spokesperson.

In all, 68 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed among people incarcerated in state prisons and work-release facilities since the start of the pandemic.

In addition, 53 DOC staff have had confirmed cases of the virus. One corrections officer, Berisford Anthony Morse, died last month due to COVID-19.

Jim Brunner

King County public health officials are worried that the use of tear gas and other respiratory irritants could increase risk of the spread of COVID-19.

As thousands of people have gathered in Seattle over the past week to protest racial injustice and police brutality, Seattle police have several times deployed pepper spray and tear gas into large groups of demonstrators, sending people into fits of coughing and gasping and leaving their eyes and skin burning.

Public Health - Seattle & King County has shared information with the city about the risk of using any agent that would cause coughing, as it increases the risk of transmission, spokeswoman Sharon Bogan said in an email. We did this as part of our advisory role as Public Health.

Research conducted by the U.S. Army in 2012 indicated a risk of acute respiratory illness in the days after exposure to tear gas and has attracted new attention as police deploy gas amid a pandemic. It is also possible that tear gas increases the risk for respiratory infection as reported in the U.S. Army research, Bogan said.

Public Health Seattle & King Co opposes the use of tear gas & other respiratory irritants based on the potential to increase COVID-19 spread, Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer for Public Health wrote in a tweet Thursday evening.

Heidi Groover

If you have mild symptoms, "please get tested." That's the new guidance as Washington broadens testing to include three new groups of people. Seattle is opening two additional sites for free testing.

Washingtons unemployment fraud may have hit $650 million. Tens of thousands of jobless people are still waiting for benefits as the state scrambles to root out the scammers, clawing back a little more than half of the money so far. Those workers face a tough road: When it comes to new job openings, the Seattle area lags much of the rest of the nation, our daily Coronavirus Economy chart shows. Nationwide, many jobs lost to the virus aren't coming back.

If youre missing libraries, take heart: Gradual reopenings are on the way in Seattle and King County. But you wont be getting lost in the stacks anytime soon. Heres what bookworms can expect, and the latest county-by-county look at when other slices of life are expected to resume. Plus, drive-in theaters are open again, with new limits.

Yakima is moving in the wrong direction as COVID-19 hospitalizations spike. Track the spread of the virus in Washington state and around the globe.

Bad news for the regions seafood industry: Seattle-based American Seafoods has 25 new cases of COVID-19 aboard two factory trawlers, following a bigger outbreak on a third vessel.

Families concerned about COVID-19 protested conditions at a Seattle work-release facility; now they're accusing the state of retaliating by sending six men at the facility back to prison.

Kris Higginson

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Coronavirus daily news updates, June 5: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the world - Seattle Times