Coronavirus deaths reach 132 in Washington state Wednesday as confirmed cases climb to 2,580
COVID-19, the illness caused by the fast-spreading novel coronavirus, has caused 132 deaths in Washington state as of March 25. There are now 2,580 confirmed cases in the state.
Those represent an increase from Tuesday, when the tally was 123 dead and 2,469 cases.
The state Department of Health (DOH) was delayed by several hours in posting the numbers Wednesday evening.
“The state’s notifiable conditions database is currently experiencing a slowdown because of a 10-fold increase in the number of lab reports received,” DOH said on its website.
The state’s database did not reflect the second COVID-19 death in Pierce County, which was registered Wednesday. Adding in that death would make the state’s death total at 133.
The state does not provide any health information on COVID-19 deaths, including that of underlying conditions.
King County deaths reached 94 on Wednesday with 1,359 cases reported as of Wednesday. Pierce County has 155 cases and the two deaths.
Since the start of the outbreak, 34,292 coronavirus tests have been conducted, according to DOH. That number was up slightly from 34,181 on Tuesday. The official increase clearly does not reflect the 10-fold increase of testing described by DOH.
In the United States, 62,873 people had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University — up from 53,740 on Tuesday. Worldwide, the number of cases stands at 460,250.
This story was originally published March 25, 2020 at 7:01 PM with the headline "Coronavirus deaths reach 132 in Washington state Wednesday as confirmed cases climb to 2,580."
