Coronavirus updates: Report shows accelerating transmission; no data released Saturday
This page includes coronavirus developments around Washington state for Sunday, July 12.
Updated at 2:15 p.m.
Pierce County reported 70 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday and no new deaths.
There have now been 3,208 cases and 97 deaths recorded since the county’s first case was reported March 6 in the pandemic.
The county has reported 722 cases in the last 14 days, an average of 51.6 cases per day. As of Saturday, the 14-day case rate per 100,000 people is 80.0.
The county estimates 1,075 active cases.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department reported Saturday that cases are spreading rapidly among younger people. Pierce County has the highest percentage of positive cases among people in their 20s compared to other Washington counties, according to a blog on the website.
Daily totals for cases and deaths can change as the county receives new information about cases, finds duplicate data or is assigned cases originally attributed to other counties.
Testing is available at various sites in the county. For more information on local testing sites, go to www.tpchd.org/covidtest.
Sunday’s geographical case totals are listed below with previous day’s totals in parentheses:
▪ Bonney Lake: 70 (64)
▪ Central Pierce County: 205 (202)
▪ East Pierce County: 82 (81)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 140 (136)
▪ Frederickson: 116 (111)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 90 (86)
▪ Graham: 89 (88)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 17 (no change)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 107 (101)
▪ Lakewood: 328 (321)
▪ Parkland: 181 (174)
▪ Puyallup: 217 (210)
▪ South Hill: 154 (153)
▪ South Pierce County: 61 (60)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 37 (no change)
▪ Spanaway: 105 (106)
▪ Tacoma: 1,028 (1,012)
▪ University Place: 150 (148)
▪ Unknown: 28 (31)
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.
No county, state data released by state DOH Saturday
Updated at 9 a.m.
No county- or state-level COVID-19 data was released Saturday, July 11, by the state Department of Health as its data system was down for maintenance. Data will be updated late afternoon Sunday, July 12, according to the department’s website.
The state on Friday reported 637 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 15 deaths. Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 39,218 cases and 1,424 deaths, up from 38,581 cases and 1,409 deaths on Thursday.
More than 12.6 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 564,394 deaths as of Saturday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 3.2 million confirmed cases — the most reported cases of any nation — and at least 134,740 related deaths.
New report shows transmission continues to accelerate
Updated at 9 a.m.
The Washington State Department of Health released the latest statewide situation report on Friday, which showed COVID-19 transmission continuing to accelerate across most of the state as of the end of June.
The report revealed concerning COVID-19 trends in Spokane County, the Puget Sound, north-central counties and southwest counties. The reproductive number — the estimated number of new people each COVID-19 patient will infect — is still above one in both eastern and western Washington. That means the number of cases is still increasing.
Transmission is slowing in Yakima County. But Yakima’s progress is still at risk since case counts are only down about 30-40 percent from its peak.
The report also estimates the percentage of the population actively infected with COVID-19 in the Puget Sound area (King, Snohomish and Pierce counties), Spokane County and Yakima County.
In the Puget Sound area, the percentage of the population with COVID-19 has reached levels comparable to those seen in late March and is increasing. In Spokane County, estimates of this percentage are also rapidly increasing. The estimates for Yakima County are improving compared to previous calculations, but the situation remains concerning.
The report also summarizes hospitalization trends, which vary across the state. King County hospitalization numbers are stable despite increasing case counts, likely because the bulk of those increases are in people under 40. Hospitalizations continue to trend upwards in eastern Washington except for Yakima County. In particular, Spokane County is experiencing a notable uptick in hospitalizations.
DOH partners with Bellevue-based Institute for Disease Modeling, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the Microsoft AI for Health program to develop this weekly report.
WIC will continue to provide remote services
Updated at 9 a.m.
Congress recently extended waivers that permit Washington WIC — the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children — to offer remote services through September 30, 2020.
The waivers allow WIC to enroll new applicants, provide nutrition education and breastfeeding support and issue food benefits by phone or video chat. Since WIC started offering remote services, program participation grew by about 4% and the rate of missed appointments dropped from 15% to almost zero.
Washington WIC also expanded the list of allowed foods to give families more choices, and participants now shop for WIC foods using a WIC card.
Due to the economic consequences related to COVID-19, people may be seeking WIC services for the first time. To find WIC services in your area:
▪ Text “WIC” to 96859
▪ Visit ParentHelp123’s ResourceFinder
▪ Call the Help Me Grow WA Hotline at 1-800-322-258
This story was originally published July 12, 2020 at 9:11 AM.
