SEATTLE - King County's top public health official issued a directive Thursday strongly urging residents to keep wearing a face mask in indoor public settings, whether or not they are vaccinated against COVID. The directive also recommends that businesses who serve the public continue policies to ensure customers and employees wear masks indoors.

STEVENS COUNTY, Wash. — With nearly six million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine already given in Washington, the state is on the way back to normalcy. But in some rural areas, vaccine hesitancy remains an issue. Even as communities within Stevens County have seen a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases recently, the number of vaccines being given isn’t going up, and many residents are hesitant to get the shot.

If your relationships, work, and life have been disrupted by the pandemic, the weeks and months before you fully reenter the world should not be wasted. They are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come clean with yourself—to admit that all was not perfectly well before. Here’s how you can make a plan not to return to normal.

The big picture: For the first time in a long time, nobody needs to cherry-pick some misleading data to make it seem like things are going well, and the good news doesn’t need an endless list of caveats, either. It’s just really good news. We’re winning. Be happy.

Vaccines may become less effective over time, but there’s no evidence that we’re on the brink of catastrophe. “I don’t think that there’s an imminent danger that we’re going to go back to square one,” says Thomas Friedrich, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine. “We should be concerned, but not freaked out.”

Backlash to such a policy is a near certainty in any venue, but especially one in the sports realm. Sports and politics often don’t play well together because team allegiances unite people from across the map and, thus, the political spectrum. This is a fracturing, and how far it will extend in Washington, and for how long, is still anyone’s guess.

SEATTLE - The COVID-19 pandemic has killed more than twice as many people around the world as the official death counts show, according to a new analysis by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. The official global death toll as of Thursday stands at about 3.26 million, but the new analysis found that COVID-19 has actually caused about 6.9 million deaths worldwide.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is expected to order new restrictions next week for several counties, likely including the state’s largest, that would force businesses and churches to reduce their indoor gathering capacity from 50% to 25%.

Nine counties across the state may be in danger of rolling back a phase in the state's Roadmap to Recovery plan next week, according to data on the state's COVID-19 phase and risk assessment dashboard. A decision about each county's future is expected on Monday, April 12.

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- It appears the extensive precautions Washington residents have taken to fight the COVID-19 pandemic have worked to prevent other illnesses from spreading as well, including the flu.

Now is not the time to let up. That's the message from a King County health official, who warned Friday about increasing cases and hospitalizations in the county, coupled with the spread of variants of concern and continued limited vaccine supply.

As of Monday, all of Washington state has now moved into Phase 3 of reopening, affording restaurants and other indoor spaces more flexibility with looser restrictions.

COVID-19's arc of brutal consequences will stretch far into the future.

The fastest way to get back to a safe, mask-free life is for everyone to get a Covid-19 vaccine. But just because you've gotten a shot of protection doesn't mean you should rip off your mask immediately. That could actually set you back and put your friends and family at risk.

VANCOUVER -- A B.C. biotech firm says it has developed an effective treatment for anyone who’s contracted COVID-19, and is now seeking federal approval for emergency use of the product.

The safety measures will be especially crucial now that multiple variants of the virus are circulating -- including the highly contagious B.1.1.7 variant that was first identified in the UK. It's projected to become the dominant variant in the US by the end of this month or early April, Walensky said Monday.

Combined, the nutrition and agricultural provisions are estimated at $22.7 billion. Today’s article reviews the agricultural provisions of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

Gov. Jay Inslee today announced that Healthy Washington: Roadmap to Recovery will be transitioning from a regional approach to a county-by-county evaluation process. The governor also announced a new third phase of the Roadmap and a return for in-person spectators for professional and high school sports. Effective March 22, the entire state will enter Phase 3.

"Many companies succeeded working remotely in 2020 largely because everyone was doing it -- there was no built-in preference for office workers or stigma against remote workers," said Andrew Hewitt, senior analyst at market research firm Forrester. "Hybrid is going to make managing this difference harder."

The CDC has issued new guidance for vaccinated people, giving the green-light to resume some pre-pandemic activities and relax precautions that have been in place.

People who are fully vaccinated can safely have private visits with unvaccinated people who have a low risk for severe COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today in highly anticipated guidance for vaccinated people.

In Oregon, state GOP lawmakers walked out of a Legislative session last week over the Democratic governor’s vaccine plans, citing rural vaccine distribution among their concerns.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday reported the results of a lab experiment. The researchers found that particles were blocked twice as much when two masks were worn.

Not everyone needs medical-grade N95 filters, but Dr. Anthony S. Fauci and officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) encourage everyone not at risk to wear a face covering with at least two layers of protection when around people not in their household.