Mar 3, 2020 - Health

Washington schools shut as Gov. Inslee seeks $100M to fight coronavirus

A health care worker prepares to transport a patient on a stretcher into an ambulance at Life Care Center of Kirkland, Feb. 29, Kirkland, Washington. Photo: David Ryder/Getty Images

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) told a news conference Monday he directed officials to ask the state legislature to designate $100 million from this year's budget to help fight the novel coronavirus.

Why it matters: The state is at the center of the U.S. outbreak. All six of the deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. have occurred in Washington state. Four of those who died were residents of the Life Care Center in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland in King County. Several of the 18 coronavirus infections in the state are residents of the nursing home.

Officials in King County made an emergency declaration Monday and several schools closed.
Inslee had already declared a state of emergency Saturday after state health officials announced an outbreak of respiratory symptoms and pneumonia at the long-term-care facility.

Go deeper: Americans still have low risk of coronavirus infection, CDC says

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Rebecca Falconer

U.S. coronavirus cases top 1,000 as states scramble to curb the spread

A stretcher is moved from an AMR ambulance to the Life Care Center of Kirkland in Washington state. Photo: Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images

The number of cases of the novel coronavirus in the U.S. soared to 1,037 and the death toll to at least 31 by early Wednesday, per data from Johns Hopkins and state health departments.

The big picture: Nearly 40 states had reported cases by Tuesday and at least 12 have declared a state of emergency — Washington, California, New York, Oregon, Kentucky, Maryland, Utah, Colorado, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Florida and Michigan — which reported its first two cases on Tuesday evening.

Go deeperUpdated Mar 11, 2020 - Health

Rebecca Falconer

Amazon employee in Seattle tests positive for coronavirus

The Amazon headquarters complex in downtown Seattle. The "Amazon Brazil" building is located on the city's 9th Avenue. Photo: Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images

An Amazon employee who works in the tech giant's "Amazon Brazil" office in downtown Seattle has tested positive to the coronavirus.

Details: An Amazon spokesperson said Tuesday night the company is "supporting the affected employee, who is in quarantine." Washington has emerged as the center of the U.S. outbreak, with all nine U.S. deaths occurring in the state. A state of emergency was declared Saturday.

Go deeper: Washington schools shut as Gov. Inslee seeks $100M to fight coronavirus

Keep ReadingMar 4, 2020 - Health

Orion Rummler

Trump derides Gov. Jay Inslee as a "snake" while touring CDC

Trump tours the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 6. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

President Trump called Washington Gov. Jay Inslee a "snake" on Friday while touring the Centers for Disease Control headquarters in Atlanta, as Washington state battles a coronavirus outbreak that has killed at least 11 people.

Driving the news: Vice President Mike Pence held a press conference with Inslee on Thursday to address the state's efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

Go deeperMar 7, 2020 - Health