Washington state COVID-19 case total now at 9,097 with 421 deaths
Washington’s Department of Health on Wednesday reported there are now 9,097 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 421 deaths so far in the coronavirus pandemic.
That’s up from 8,682 confirmed cases and 394 deaths reported on the state’s website Tuesday.
Despite the additional numbers, confidence in hospitals being able to handle the load of COVID-19 patients continues to grow among state and local officials.
On Wednesday, Gov. Jay Inslee announced that the field hospital set up at CenturyLink Field Event Center would be disassembled and redeployed elsewhere.
On Monday, Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier announced during an area-wide business teleconference call that a formerly planned field hospital at the Puyallup fairgrounds also would not be deployed.
The state’s reported COVID-19 case totals have been lagging for days as the reporting system struggles to process its volume of test results.
King County has the most reported cases in the state, with 3,688 cases and 244 deaths from COVID-19 listed on the county’s website.
Snohomish County has the second-most reported cases, with 1,695 cases and 63 deaths according to its website.
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.
