First responders and emergency workers are urging Minnesota lawmakers to ease their ability to obtain workers’ compensation should they contract COVID-19. A bill before lawmakers would encompass firefighters, paramedics, police, nurses, doctors and people providing child care to emergency responders, among several others whose jobs put them at particular risk of contracting the disease that had infected 689 and killed 17 Minnesotans as of Wednesday.
- PUB DATE: 4/2/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Star Tribune

Doctors and nurses short of face masks has some local artists making use of their 3D printers. It's a long process, but after the group met with hospital staff about what they need, they say they're planning to make hundreds for both Astria Health and Virginia Mason Memorial. The Yakima Maker Space has been closed to the public for weeks now, but a small group of members are working to pump out hundreds of masks for hospitals in the area with their 3D printers.
- PUB DATE: 4/2/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KIMA-TV CBS/CW+ 29 Yakima

Seattle officials have booked an entire downtown hotel for three months to house first responders and other essential city employees who’ve been exposed to the novel coronavirus and can’t isolate or quarantine at home. The city is set to spend at least $2.8 million on the 155-room Executive Hotel Pacific as more firefighters, police officers and other crucial workers in Seattle and across Washington are contracting the COVID-19 illness caused by the virus.
- PUB DATE: 4/1/2020 7:41:34 PM - SOURCE: Seattle Times

The number of city of Spokane firefighters in quarantine continues to drop, but department leaders will remain vigilant and adhere to a requirement that employees wear masks around-the-clock. Only five firefighters were in quarantine on Wednesday, a precipitous drop from 33 the department reported out of work on March 19, amounting to about 10% of the workforce.
- PUB DATE: 4/1/2020 5:19:57 PM - SOURCE: Spokane Spokesman-Review

Almost two weeks ago, the agency leading Washington state’s response to the coronavirus outbreak reassured Southwest Washington’s highest-ranking lawmaker. Clark County, at the time home to nine positive cases of COVID-19 and three deaths, would move near the top of the list for resupplies of protective gear and testing kits.
- PUB DATE: 4/1/2020 2:37:40 PM - SOURCE: Oregon Public Broadcasting