Editor’s note: This is a live account of COVID-19 updates from Monday, Aug. 10, as the day unfolded. It is no longer being updated. Click here to see all the most recent news about the pandemic, and click here to find additional resources.
Throughout Monday, on this page, we’ll be posting Seattle Times journalists’ updates on the outbreak and its effects on the Seattle area, the Pacific Northwest and the world.
Updates from Sunday can be found here, and all our coronavirus coverage can be found here.
Antonio Banderas says he’s tested positive for coronavirus
Antonio Banderas says he’s tested positive for COVID-19 and is celebrating his 60th birthday in quarantine.
The Spanish actor announced his positive test in a post Monday on Instagram. Banderas said he would spend his time in isolation reading, writing and “making plans to begin to give meaning to my 60th year to which I arrive full of enthusiasm.”
“I would like to add that I am relatively well, just a little more tired than usual and hoping to recover as soon as possible following medical instructions that I hope will allow me to overcome the infection that I and so many people in the world are suffering from,” wrote Banderas.
A spokeperson for Banderas didn’t immediate respond to messages Monday.
Earlier this year, Banderas was nominated for the Academy Award for best actor for his performance in Pedro Almodóvar’s “Pain & Glory.”
—The Associated Press
Reports suggest college football is about to be canceled
On July 31, the Pac-12 unveiled a 10-game, conference-only fall 2020 football schedule.
Ten days later, that schedule appears to be all but scrapped.
On Monday, the Detroit Free Press reported that the Big Ten Conference has voted 12-2 to cancel its 2020 football season. A Big Ten spokesperson, meanwhile, reportedly told Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel that no such vote has occurred. The conference’s presidents will make a final decision on a call at 3 p.m., according to the Lansing Sports Journal.
The Big Ten’s seismic deliberations come two days after the Mid-American Conference, which resides in the same geographic footprint as the Big Ten, announced the cancellation of its fall football season.
Dan Patrick reported separately on his national radio show on Monday that both the Big Ten and Pac-12 will formally announce the cancellations of their respective seasons on Tuesday, according to a source. The Pac-12 presidents will not make any final decisions until their scheduled meeting on Tuesday at the earliest, according to Jon Wilner of the Bay Area News Group.
—Mike Vorel
Health officials are quitting or getting fired amid outbreak
Vilified, threatened with violence and in some cases suffering from burnout, dozens of state and local public health officials around the U.S. have resigned or have been fired amid the coronavirus outbreak, a testament to how politically combustible masks, lockdowns and infection data have become.
The latest departure came Sunday, when California’s public health director, Dr. Sonia Angell, quit without explanation following a technical glitch that caused a delay in reporting virus test results — information used to make decisions about reopening businesses and schools.
Last week, New York City’s health commissioner was replaced after months of friction with the Police Department and City Hall.
A review by the Kaiser Health News service and The Associated Press finds at least 48 state and local public health leaders have resigned, retired or been fired since April across 23 states. The list has grown by more than 20 people since the AP and KHN began tracking departures in June.
—The Associated Press
Israeli jeweler making $1.5M gold coronavirus mask
An Israeli jewelry company is working on what it says will be the world’s most expensive coronavirus mask, a gold, diamond-encrusted face covering with a price tag of $1.5 million.
The 18-karat white gold mask will be decorated with 3,600 white and black diamonds and fitted with top-rated N99 filters at the request of the buyer, said designer Isaac Levy.
Levy, owner of the Yvel company, said the buyer had two other demands: that it be completed by the end of the year, and that it would be the priciest in the world. That last condition, he said, “was the easiest to fulfill.”
He declined to identify the buyer, but said he was a Chinese businessman living in the United States.
—The Associated Press
Amid pandemic, future of many Catholic schools is in doubt
As the new academic year arrives, school systems across the United States are struggling to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Roman Catholic educators have an extra challenge — trying to forestall a relentless wave of closures of their schools that has no end in sight.
Already this year, financial and enrollment problems aggravated by the pandemic have forced the permanent closure of more than 140 Catholic schools nationwide, according to officials who oversee Catholic education in the country.
Three of the nation’s highest-ranking Catholic leaders, in a recent joint appeal, said Catholic schools “are presently facing their greatest financial crisis” and warned that hundreds more closures are likely without federal support.
—The Associated Press
Many landmark restaurants, bars won’t reopen after virus
La Tropicana Cafe has been a cornerstone of Tampa’s historic Latin-influenced Ybor City neighborhood since the 1960s, well known as a gathering spot where movers and shakers and even mobsters mixed with construction workers over Cuban coffee and sandwiches.
Now its doors are likely closed for good, like so many other bars and restaurants nationwide done in by the coronavirus pandemic.
Every neighborhood loses something precious when local eateries and hangouts get shuttered, but as infections spread and the economic fallout continues, the loss of iconic establishments like La Tropicana is particularly hard to swallow.
—The Associated Press
As schools reopen, much remains unknown about risk to kids and peril they pose to others
The photos showed up on social media just hours into the first day of school: 80 beaming teens in front of Etowah High School near Atlanta, with not a mask on a single face and hardly 6 inches of distance between them — let alone the recommended 6 feet.
Amanda Seghetti, a mom in the area, said her parent Facebook group lit up when the pictures of the seniors were posted. Some people thought the images were cute. Others freaked out. Seghetti was in the latter constituency.
“It’s like they think they are immune and are in denial about everything,” Seghetti said.
Pictures of packed school hallways in Georgia and news of positive tests on the first day of classes in Indiana and Mississippi sparked the latest fraught discussions over the risk the coronavirus presents to children — and what’s lost by keeping them home from school. Friday brought reports of more infections among Georgia students, with dozens forced into quarantine in Cherokee County, among other places.
—The Washington Post
‘I’d rather stay home and die’: Fear of hospitals is driving virus deaths in Mexico
A gray Suzuki stopped outside the General Hospital of Mexico and deposited a heaving Victor Bailón at the entrance. He had refused to come to the hospital in Mexico City for days, convinced that doctors were killing coronavirus patients. By the time he hobbled into the triage area and collapsed on the floor, it was too late.
“Papito, breathe!” his wife screamed. “Please breathe.”
Within an hour, Bailón was dead.
Mexico is battling one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the world, with more than 52,000 confirmed deaths, the third-highest toll of the pandemic. And its struggle has been made even harder by a pervasive phenomenon: a deeply rooted fear of hospitals.
—The New York Times
Young smokers at higher risk for severe COVID-19 symptoms than nonsmokers their age
Young adults who smoke have double the risk of getting seriously sick with COVID-19 than do nonsmokers, according to new research from the University of California San Francisco.
Smoking and vaping are risky for any age group when it comes to respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19. But they stand out as a vulnerability for people between 18 and 25 years old partly because that age group has so few other high-risk conditions for severe COVID-19, according to the study, which was published July 13 in the Journal of Adolescent Health (JAH).
The study in the JAH also said young adults are now picking up cigarettes at higher rates than adolescents, a reversal of previous initiation patterns.
But Washington adults, on the whole, don’t smoke as much as those in most other states.
—Christine Clarridge
A pandemic ‘silver lining’: You can start drug treatment over the phone — and more people are starting to
A big barrier to getting people into drug treatment has always been getting the addicted person to go see a doctor — especially in rural areas where the nearest clinic is many miles away.
But that’s changed since COVID-19 reached the U.S. and Washington’s governor ordered the state to stay at home. In response to the pandemic, restrictions around in-person visits to prescribers for medication-assisted treatment have been suspended across the country, restrictions on billing phone visits to Medicaid were eased, and providers began expanding telemedicine options. At many clinics, you can now get a substance use disorder assessment over the phone, and pick up your prescription at a local pharmacy.
Leading experts in the field want the changes to stay, at least until expanded access can be studied.
Catch up on the past 24 hours
While Latinos are 13% of Washington’s population, they comprise 43% of the state’s COVID-19 cases. Here’s a look at some of the reasons why.
Sad but true: Scammers are trying to capitalize on the coronavirus pandemic. Here are some things to know to avoid becoming a victim.
Fresh air, outside visitors and more testing: An independent state watchdog has recommended changes in how Washington’s prisons are handling the pandemic.
When the school year starts, and with it remote learning, day care providers will be thrust into the role of de facto teachers. How will the already struggling industry cope?
Grim milestone: The United States topped 5 million confirmed coronavirus cases over the weekend. By contrast, New Zealand marked its 100th day without a case.
President Donald Trump’s attempt to circumvent Congress to provide coronavirus relief in the absence of a broad agreement resulted in confusion and uncertainty Sunday for tens of millions of unemployed Americans and countless businesses seeking aid after critical benefits lapsed.
Remember the school in Georgia where two students were briefly suspended after images they shared of a crowded hallway went viral? Nine people there have tested positive for the virus.
—Seattle Times staff & news services
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