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Coronavirus daily news updates, May 9: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the nation


While this year’s Mother’s Day weekend promises warm weather, Seattle officials are restricting hours in city parks out of fears that large crowds hoping to enjoy the sun could further spread the novel coronavirus. A recent report shows the COVID-19 transmission rate in Western Washington may be steadily increasing, suggesting that the number of virus cases […]




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US approves new coronavirus antigen test with fast results


U.S. regulators have approved a new type of coronavirus test that administration officials have promoted as a key to opening up the country. The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday announced emergency authorization for antigen tests developed by Quidel Corp. of San Diego. The test can rapidly detect fragments of virus proteins in samples collected […]




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Amazon prepares first earnings report from coronavirus era, as pandemic accelerates retail trends in its favor


The company’s first-quarter earnings report will provide a view of how the pandemic has accelerated trends already working in its favor, and the extent to which coronavirus restrictions on businesses and consumers have boosted Amazon’s sales.




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Seattle City Council hears details on plan to borrow money for coronavirus relief from big business tax


The tax on companies with annual payrolls over $7 million would apply to gig-economy companies, such as Uber. But franchises, such as McDonald's, could avoid the 1.3% payroll tax.




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‘The hardest time we’ve ever faced’: Amazon revenue surges, but coronavirus costs may wipe out operating profit


The company's first-quarter sales rose 26% year over year to $75.5 billion. But expenses related to Amazon’s pandemic response weighed on the bottom line in the three-month period ended March 31.




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Amazon, Instacart workers launch May Day strike to protest treatment during the coronavirus pandemic


The onset of the coronavirus and the subsequent classification of many of these workers as "essential" have heightened some existing tensions. Workers have accused companies of being slow to provide protective gear and implement precautions, something that may put them in danger.




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May Day protests take on different look this year due to coronavirus


What used to be an annual May Day march for workers’ and immigration rights has taken on a different look this year due to coronavirus stay-at-home restrictions. This year, the march from Judkins Park to downtown Seattle has been canceled. Instead, march sponsors El Comité and the May 1st Action Coalition have scheduled a vehicle […]




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Whole Foods to provide face masks for shoppers to prevent spread of coronavirus in stores


Amazon-owned Whole Foods will provide grocery shoppers with free single-use masks at all its stores beginning this week, in keeping with the chain's "request" that all shoppers wear masks.




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Amazon wins business from reluctant brands after coronavirus closes stores


Before the pandemic, many brands and wholesalers kept Amazon at arm's length. Now, consultants that help brands navigate Amazon's marketplace say the company is attracting a broad range of vendors that sold at physical stores.




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Amazon engineering elites engage in rare public debate over company’s coronavirus safety response, worker treatment


The public back-and-forth about a controversial, high-profile topic is unusual for a company that has lately enforced policies limiting what employees can say publicly without authorization, and for the seniority of those involved.




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Proposal to tax big businesses will be shelved by Seattle City Council during coronavirus emergency


The decision by Council President M. Lorena González and Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda will stall the big-business tax championed by Councilmembers Kshama Sawant and Tammy Morales, which already faced opposition from Mayor Jenny Durkan.




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2% of Puget Sound households received grocery delivery last year, before coronavirus changed shopping


The most popular online grocery category was packaged foods such as breakfast cereal and pasta; followed by toiletries, personal care products and diapers; household cleaners and paper products; and frozen food.




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You can pick your flavor, and you can pick your tea — but you should let an expert pick your mushrooms


DO NOT PICK your own mushrooms. Not alone, anyway, and I bother to say this because you probably want to. Tromping through the fecund woods, you would see little trumpets and toadstools winking at you from under every dripping leaf and at the base of every moss-covered tree, and you’d want to pick them and […]



  • Pacific NW Magazine

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Stranglers keyboardist Dave Greenfield dies with COVID-19


LONDON (AP) — Dave Greenfield, the keyboard player with British punk band The Stranglers and who penned the music to their biggest hit, Golden Brown, has died after testing positive for coronavirus. He was 71. The band’s official website announced that Greenfield died on Sunday after contracting the virus following a stay in a hospital […]




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Dave Matthews Band will skip its annual Labor Day weekend Gorge run due to coronavirus pandemic


Dave Matthews Band announced it's rescheduling its entire summer concert slate — including the annual Labor Day weekend bash the band's hosted at the Gorge Amphitheatre for years — due to COVID-19.




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Ravenna twins treat neighbors to front-yard jazz sessions during coronavirus shutdown


The Sharma brothers, who became interested in music in the fourth grade, have played in bands at Eckstein Middle School and Roosevelt High. So it felt quite natural for them to step out of their house April 9 for their first front-porch performance.




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When coronavirus dealt Seattle record stores their latest blow, Easy Street Records got creative


The COVID-19 pandemic is the latest challenge for Seattle’s independent record stores like Easy Street, but these titans of vinyl continue to rise to the occasion.




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Brandi Carlile reschedules Echoes Through the Canyon show at the Gorge due to coronavirus pandemic


Brandi Carlile has rescheduled her June 6 Echoes Through the Canyon show at the Gorge Amphitheatre to Aug. 14, 2021.




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What’s bringing you joy amid the coronavirus crisis? Washingtonians share what’s getting them through the pandemic.


From an unexpected friendship across species, to a cluster of clay llamas, to finding a way to remotely produce a song featuring multiple collaborators, people across Washington state have found ways to stay connected to their artistic communities, their jobs and their routines — or to find beauty in the changes themselves. 




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Seattle parks will remain open this weekend with same coronavirus guidelines, plus rain


Seattle banned the use of playgrounds, athletic fields and sports courts weeks ago, taping off playground structures and swings.




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Through coronavirus pandemic and two world wars, this Des Moines nursery keeps people planting and believing


Zenith Holland Nursery has seen times like this before — and survived. The Des Moines nursery opened in 1907, survived two world wars and remains open during the coronavirus shutdown.




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Inslee: Washington state parks, recreational fishing, golf courses to reopen May 5, amid coronavirus outbreak


Gov. Inslee announced Monday that golf and recreational fishing could resume on May 5 and many state parks and public lands will reopen as well.




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Following coronavirus-related closure, Stevens Pass will credit customers for unused ski passes


If you bought a 2019-2020 season pass but didn't use it — or didn't use it as much as you'd hoped to — you may have a credit waiting.




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What you should know as Washington’s outdoor lands reopen Tuesday after coronavirus lockdown


More than 100 Washington state parks will reopen for day use on Tuesday. But this doesn't mean you should abandon social distancing practices. Here's what you need to know before you go.




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State parks, fishing and boating reopened in Washington after a coronavirus hiatus. Here’s how it went.


In the first phase of the state's reopening, hunting and fishing were reintroduced statewide, municipal golf courses began operating again, and more than 100 state parks reopened for day-use recreation only.




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Coronavirus canceled his Mount Everest climb, so this Seattle man will climb his porch steps 5,683 times to ‘summit’ #AtHomeEverest


Coronavirus canceled their mountain climbing trips and adventure runs, so these Seattleites found creative ways to stay fit, stay sane and conquer their lofty goals — all while maintaining social distancing.




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King County parks and public lands reopen Friday after coronavirus shutdown. Here’s what you need to know


Some King County parks and public lands will reopen on Friday as the first phase of Gov. Jay Inslee's plan to reopen Washington's economy continues. Here's what's open and what's not as we head into a sunny spring weekend.




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What’s bringing you joy amid the coronavirus crisis? Washingtonians share what’s getting them through the pandemic.


From an unexpected friendship across species, to a cluster of clay llamas, to finding a way to remotely produce a song featuring multiple collaborators, people across Washington state have found ways to stay connected to their artistic communities, their jobs and their routines — or to find beauty in the changes themselves. 





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Looking for good books to read? Here are our book critic’s recent favorites.


Reading has taken on a different meaning for a lot of us these days; it’s how we leave our homes while staying rooted in our armchairs, how we travel, how we meet new people and spend time in intimate connection with others.




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As coronavirus looms over sports world, fans must ask themselves some tough questions


As we face a unique health-care crisis with the proliferation of the coronavirus, the ramifications for sports are just one piece in a giant, complicated puzzle. But I can’t remember an event in my lifetime with the potential to have a greater impact on the world of athletics.







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In roughly 24 hours coronavirus makes sports, a longtime sanctuary in times of crisis, disappear


Sports has always been the escape during times of crisis and collective stress. But now the very act of conducting sports threatens to add exponentially to perpetuating the coronavirus pandemic and growing the stress.





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Due to coronavirus, NCAA grants extra year of eligibility to spring athletes, considers same for winter athletes


After the cancellation of the spring and winter championships tournaments stemming from concerns over the novel coronavirus pandemic, the NCAA will grant an extra year of eligibility to athletes who participate in spring sports, the organization announced Friday.




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Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott discusses conference’s financial hit and ‘concern and anxiety’ over athletes because of coronavirus


The Pac-12 is facing a revenue hit of at least $1 million per school from the cancellation of its men’s basketball tournament and March Madness, although the full extent of the damage won’t be known for weeks.




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The Korean Baseball Organization is back from the coronavirus shutdown. Is this what Mariners games will look like?


The quality of the games, which include a handful of former big-league players, isn’t great. But it’s real, live baseball being broadcast by ESPN. Beyond the joy of watching baseball, these games provide a glimpse of what Mariners games and other MLB matchups might look like if/when they return.




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Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy dies from coronavirus at 75

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy, the duo whose extraordinary magic tricks astonished millions until Horn was critically injured in 2003 by one of the act’s famed white tigers, has died. He was 75. Horn died of complications from the coronavirus on Friday in a Las Vegas hospital, according to a […]




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Two White House coronavirus cases raise question of if anyone is really safe


WASHINGTON — In his eagerness to reopen the country, President Donald Trump faces the challenge of convincing Americans that it would be safe to go back to the workplace. But the past few days have demonstrated that even his own workplace may not be safe from the coronavirus. Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary tested […]




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Being ostracized: Virus leaves its mark for UK’s elderly


LONDON (AP) — From resounding applause to ostracization and isolation. That’s essentially the journey Lt. Cmdr. Robert Embleton, who served 34 years in Britain’s Royal Navy, took by ambulance when discharged from Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, southwestern England, on April 8 following his near-month sickness with COVID-19. Arriving at his retirement home, he immediately went […]




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Clinical trial enrollment plummets as volunteers are scared off coronavirus drugs promoted by Trump


One of the hottest debates in the coronavirus pandemic is whether the malaria drugs promoted as possible treatments by President Donald Trump really work. But Americans don’t seem overly eager to help answer the question. Enrollment in several clinical trials of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine — including two by the University of Washington — has been […]




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Alan Lund, who taught and directed music throughout the Seattle area, dies at 81 from coronavirus complications


Alan Lund taught music in the Bellevue and Highline School Districts, and directed music for the Seattle Opera Chorus, the Eastside’s Cascadian Chorale, the Boeing Chorale and, most notably, the Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society.




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What’s bringing you joy amid the coronavirus crisis? Washingtonians share what’s getting them through the pandemic.


From an unexpected friendship across species, to a cluster of clay llamas, to finding a way to remotely produce a song featuring multiple collaborators, people across Washington state have found ways to stay connected to their artistic communities, their jobs and their routines — or to find beauty in the changes themselves. 




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Belarus holds Victory Day parade, disregarding coronavirus


MINSK, Belarus (AP) — The eastern European nation of Belarus held a full-fledged military parade Saturday to mark Victory Day, shrugging off safety concerns during the coronavirus pandemic that led Russia to curtail its own long-planned 75th anniversary observances. Tens of thousands of spectators lined the parade route as some 3,000 soldiers and 185 military […]




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Maldives sees rapid spike in coronavirus patients


MALE, Maldives (AP) — The Maldives, an Indian Ocean archipelago nation with one of the world’s most congested capitals, has seen a rapid rise in coronavirus cases over the past few weeks. Health officials predict that more than 77,000 people — or a fourth of those currently living in the country — could become infected, […]




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Coronavirus daily news updates, May 9: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the nation


While this year’s Mother’s Day weekend promises warm weather, Seattle officials are restricting hours in city parks out of fears that large crowds hoping to enjoy the sun could further spread the novel coronavirus. A recent report shows the COVID-19 transmission rate in Western Washington may be steadily increasing, suggesting that the number of virus cases […]




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US approves new coronavirus antigen test with fast results


U.S. regulators have approved a new type of coronavirus test that administration officials have promoted as a key to opening up the country. The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday announced emergency authorization for antigen tests developed by Quidel Corp. of San Diego. The test can rapidly detect fragments of virus proteins in samples collected […]




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Why journalists at The Inlander didn’t jump for joy when a federal loan saved their jobs


Journalists at The Inlander, Spokane's alt-weekly, surprised their boss when they learned a federal loan would put their newsroom back together. Here's why.