State offers free home tests; National Guard arrives in Everett
As the Washington National Guard arrived Friday in Everett to help hospital workers, the state also launched an online portal for Washingtonians to get free at-home COVID tests. Both state initiatives aim to combat the recent omicron surge that has increased demand for hospital resources and testing. A National Guard team of about 10 will help with non-clinical tasks at Providence Regional Medical Center, freeing up staff for critical care. Continue reading at The Everett Herald. (Providence)
Legislators look to make cannabis laws more equitable, again
It’s been seven years since Duane Dunn opened his cannabis dispensary in Tacoma and he still remembers the feeling of joy he had when it first opened. “It was exciting because it was a new industry, it was challenging because it was constantly evolving and changing, and I was happy that I could do something else other than IT,” said Dunn, who had left the IT field after nearly 20 years in the industry. In 2014, he was able to secure a cannabis license after an intense application process and paying a large sum for the application fee. Continue reading at The Olympian.
Omicron’s economic toll: Missing workers, more uncertainty and higher inflation (maybe)
The Omicron wave of the coronavirus appears to be cresting in much of the country. But its economic disruptions have made a post-pandemic normal ever more elusive. Forecasters have slashed their estimates for economic growth in the first three months of 2022. Some expect January to show the first monthly decline in employment in more than a year. And retail sales and manufacturing production fell in December, suggesting that the impact began well before cases hit their peak. Continue reading at The New York Times.
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