Washington passes 7,500 COVID-19 cases, is up to 310 deaths
The Washington State Department of Health reported 625 new COVID-19 cases and 26 additional deaths Saturday.
Statewide totals are up to 7,591 cases and 310 deaths, up from 6,966 cases and 284 deaths Friday.
King County continues to be the hardest hit, with 2,865 cases and has reached 200 deaths, while Snohomish County has 1,398 cases and 45 deaths and Pierce County has 620 cases and eight deaths.
Of the state’s 39 counties, 37 have reported cases, with Benton (147), Clark (131), Island (121), King (2,865), Pierce (620), Skagit (158), Snohomish (1,398), Spokane (188), Whatcom (129) and Yakima (281) all reporting more than 100 cases.
Fifteen counties have reported at least one virus-related death.
Thurston County reported its first death Saturday — a man in his 80s who was admitted to an Olympia hospital last week. Local health officials do not believe the man acquired COVID-19 in Thurston County.
There are 1,216 cases and one death that have not been assigned to a county.
Nearly 88,000 people in Washington have been tested, with the positive cases up to 8.6% and 4.1% of positive cases resulting in death.
The DOH announced Friday it would change how COVID-19 case information appears on its website.
The DOH partnered with Microsoft’s Al for Health team to make a visual dashboard that shows data reported by local health departments, health care facilities and labs throughout the state.
“This dashboard helps us communicate trends and data in a way that makes it much easier for the public to understand,” DOH Chief Information Officer Jennifer McNamara said in a release. “We know how much the public values this information and appreciate the partnership with Microsoft to make this possible.”
The new dashboard is intended to “increase timelines, accuracy and speed of data reporting to the public.” It reports cases, lab tests and deaths as of 11:59 p.m. the previous day.
The DOH will report new information to Microsoft each day, which will then update the dashboard.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREHow we are reporting coronavirus numbers
The News Tribune reports confirmed coronavirus cases as listed by the Washington Department of Health and the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department in their daily updates.
The state total includes all cases submitted by county health departments by 11:59 p.m. the previous day and is updated once a day by 6 p.m. on its website. Its numbers only include the cases the health departments have reported directly to the state. In some cases, county health departments have reported cases publicly but not to the state health department by the daily deadline, leading to different totals on occasion.
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department updates its total by 2 p.m. each day on its website, and consists of all new confirmed cases reported by 11:59 p.m. the previous day.
This story was originally published April 4, 2020 at 3:44 PM.
