Since health officials began recommending (but not requiring) that everyone cover their faces in public to reduce the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, a new divide has emerged over who wears a mask and who doesn't.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that he and his girlfriend have named their newborn boy X Æ A-12. But that might cross the line with state of California, which has limits on what parents can name their children.

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. 

A Seattle expert is estimating about 20,000 people in the U.S. are now infected with the new coronavirus, nearly 10 times more than the roughly 2,300 confirmed cases. Trevor Bedford, a computational biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, posted his estimates in a series of 13 tweets Friday night. “I could easily be […]

Staff at Bellevue's Institute for Disease Modeling estimate that social distancing measures aimed at cutting the transmission rate in half could reduce the number of infections in the Seattle area in early April by a factor of five — from roughly 25,000 to 4,800. Deaths would be reduced from 400 down to 100.

The study will add a "real-time" element to what UW researchers already know about social isolation, loneliness and their related health risks.

COVID-19 has spread across Washington, the U.S. and the world at staggering speeds. Here's what we know so far about the spread of coronavirus and its global impacts.

Hospital admissions tracked by the state Department of Health offer a window into the pandemic's impact on the health care system. Right now, officials are not seeing a surge of patients, but worry one could still be coming.

"It's not insignificant," said Michael Simon, co-founder & CEO of Elucd, a Brooklyn-based public-sentiment polling firm that conducted the surveys over a 10-day period.

Modeling from the UW’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) forecasts that hospitalizations will generally peak in mid-April, with 64,000 more patients than licensed beds nationwide.

Public health officials warned against drawing conclusions from the demographic breakdown, because race and ethnicity data was known for only about 51% of confirmed cases in King County.

In King and Snohomish counties, one in 10 households own a second home or real-estate property elsewhere. Many are fleeing to those vacation homes to hunker down during the coronavirus pandemic.

How many people will die? How many jobs will be lost? All around us, the coronavirus pandemic has caused an immense human tragedy in Washington. Here’s what we know and don’t know right now. How this all ends is still anyone’s guess.

The decision by Americans to hunker down during the coronavirus pandemic has been heavily influenced by pronouncements from national and local leaders, according to data released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report offers the most robust information to date showing the relationship between people’s behavior and official policies announced by […]

Among those 18 to 29 years old, more than one out of three say that they have, or someone in their household has, lost a job or been laid off because of the coronavirus outbreak. And nearly half have taken a pay cut or had their hours reduced.

Seattle so far has the highest rate of census participation among the 50 largest cities in the United States, with 60.7% of Seattle households having returned their Census questionnaire. In some rural areas of the state, responses so far have been poor.

Hispanic people in King County are dying from COVID-19 at much higher rates than white people, according to a new study. The insight into the coronavirus’ uneven impact in King County comes into focus as people of color represent an increasing percentage of the county's COVID-19 cases. 

When asked what changes they anticipate making for the next year or longer after the lockdown is lifted, a majority of Seattle residents say they will continue to avoid social gatherings and physical contact — in other words, people.

As the nation’s overall death toll soared past historical averages, preliminary data shows a less dramatic trend in Washington during the first months of the novel coronavirus outbreak. 

For the week ending May 2, the state received 109,167 initial claims for unemployment insurance, down almost 22% from the prior week, according to U.S. Labor Department figures released Thursday morning.

About 14,800 initial unemployment claims by bartenders were filed from March 8 through April 25, which closely matches the number of people estimated to work as bartenders in Washington in the second quarter of 2020.

COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) — Justin Herbert should have been walking onto a Los Angeles Chargers practice field Friday for the first time. But with the coronavirus pandemic shutting down NFL facilities, he is finding other ways to work with future teammates. Herbert, who was selected with the sixth overall pick in last month’s draft, […]

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.

PARIS (AP) — All players in Lyon men’s and women’s teams have tested negative for the coronavirus, club president Jean-Michel Aulas said. The French soccer club’s squads were tested by team doctors at Lyon’s training center. “The men’s and women’s squads were tested on Thursday on site. There were no positive cases,” Aulas told regional […]

The four players sure seemed thrilled to be playing some tennis with some prize money (amount undisclosed) at stake amid the coronavirus pandemic — even if the court was near the backyard swimming pool at someone’s mansion and there were zero ATP rankings points on the line, zero locker rooms, zero spectators, zero ball kids […]

Business and government insiders say other companies and organizations are contemplating similarly extended time frames as they consider the new realities of the workplace in the COVID-19 era.

The economic shock caused by the coronavirus is accelerating a tech-industry shift from prioritizing growth to profitability, meaning rank-and-file workers will no longer be immune to the forces confronting so many workers throughout America.

This series of charts provides weekly data on how the Seattle-area economy is doing during the coronavirus crisis.

In the unofficial forecast numbers, Washington would lose $3.8 billion in revenue this current budget cycle. An additional $3.27 billion would be sheared off the 2021-23 budget cycle.

NEW YORK (AP) — While thousands of small businesses waited for coronavirus relief money to arrive, they were shutting down and laying off workers. Two reports issued this week shed light on the crisis that business owners have been struggling through since the coronavirus hit. On Wednesday, payroll provider ADP said its small business customers […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 3.2 million laid-off workers applied for unemployment benefits last week as the business shutdowns caused by the viral outbreak deepened the worst U.S. economic catastrophe in decades. Roughly 33.5 million people have now filed for jobless aid in the seven weeks since the coronavirus began forcing millions of companies to close […]

For the week ending May 2, the state received 109,167 initial claims for unemployment insurance, down almost 22% from the prior week, according to U.S. Labor Department figures released Thursday morning.

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.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Since its record-setting peak five weeks ago, the number of laid-off U.S. workers applying for jobless benefits, while still extraordinarily high, has steadily slowed. The trend suggests that the grimmest period of layoffs that began after businesses suddenly shut down in March has passed. Yet the economy — and tens of millions […]

About 14,800 initial unemployment claims by bartenders were filed from March 8 through April 25, which closely matches the number of people estimated to work as bartenders in Washington in the second quarter of 2020.

The Internal Revenue Service said it will accept bank account information until noon Wednesday for people who want to receive stimulus payments by direct deposit. After that, the IRS will send the money by check to the address on file, with those payments expected to arrive in late May and June, according to a statement […]

As Washington grapples with a tsunami of legitimate unemployment claims — more than 100,000 last week — the state also is seeing a rise in attempts by fraudsters to siphon off a portion of the benefits.

In many cases, the response from insurers has been: We don't cover viruses.

On the TV, a bearded man sits alone in an empty white room. He’s dressed like a military officer in a campy musical and is holding a giant bowl of popcorn that he touches only after using hand sanitizer. It’s a 15-second advertisement starring Captain Obvious, the spokesman for Hotels.com, urging everyone to keep their […]

The musical retelling of the life of Elton John leads the blast of releases coming to Amazon Prime Video.

When Maple Valley's Zan Fiskum appears on “The Voice” Monday night, she'll be continuing a growing tradition started by Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile, and continued by wunderkind musician Benicio Bryant.

The markets, which had been closed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, will open with new rules.

The suit, filed Thursday in Skagit County Superior Court, seeks an injunction requiring state agencies to expedite and toughen their oversight through emergency rulemaking.

Yakima County health officials said they have identified 70 COVID-19 cases among farm and fruit-packing workers. Growers consider new state safety guidelines reasonable but unions say they give employers an easy out.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Tyson Foods suspended operations Wednesday at an Iowa plant that is critical to the nation’s pork supply but was blamed for fueling a massive coronavirus outbreak in the region. The Arkansas-based company said the closure of the plant in Waterloo would deny a vital market to hog farmers and further […]

The toll on the meat processing industry has stunned some of industry's biggest players, and prompted an urgent push to redefine workplace protections needed to keep products flowing into grocery stores amid the global pandemic.

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.

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.

With closures in meat processing plants across the country because of the spread of the coronavirus among workers, food analysts are forecasting shortages of beef, pork and poultry on store shelves. Here's a Q&A on what is happening to the food supply chain.

Like many farmers and ranchers in Idaho, Ryan Cranney began feeling the effects of COVID-19’s disruption in the restaurant supply chain in mid-March. What was supposed to be a good year for Cranney Farms’ crops quickly turned into a surplus he couldn’t sell. That is when he took to Facebook and put out a call […]