Coronavirus updates: Washington state passes 40K cases
This page includes coronavirus developments around Washington state for Monday, July 13.
Updated at 2:55 p.m.
Pierce County reported 62 new COVID-19 cases on Monday and no new deaths.
There have now been 3,268 cases and 97 deaths recorded since the county’s first case was reported March 6 in the pandemic.
The county has reported 763 cases in the past 14 days, an average of 54.5 cases per day. The 14-day case rate per 100,000 people is 84.6.
The county estimates 1,124 still-active cases.
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.
In a blog posted by the health department over the weekend, it noted about one-third of the cases are among 20-29 year-olds, and the county’s cases from the last two weeks of June were “disproportionately among young adults in their 20s,” according to information from the Institute for Disease Modeling.
The department also noted that Pierce County had the highest percent of COVID-19 cases among people 20-29 in the state.
Added to that, test processing delays and possibly “an increase of cases resulting from social gatherings over the Fourth of July holiday weekend,” could be contributing factors to the higher numbers, but the department reiterated that increased testing “is not enough to account for the increase in cases.”
Testing is available at various sites in the county. For more information on local testing sites, go to www.tpchd.org/covidtest.
Monday’s geographical case totals are listed below with previous day’s totals in parentheses:
▪ Bonney Lake: 75 (70)
▪ Central Pierce County: 211 (205)
▪ East Pierce County: 85 (82)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 144 (140)
▪ Frederickson: 122 (116)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 90 (no change)
▪ Graham: 92 (89)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 18 (17)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 108 (107)
▪ Lakewood: 333 (328)
▪ Parkland: 185 (181)
▪ Puyallup: 219 (217)
▪ South Hill: 154 (no change)
▪ South Pierce County: 62 (61)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 39 (37)
▪ Spanaway: 114 (105)
▪ Tacoma: 1,038 (1,028)
▪ University Place: 152 (150)
▪ Unknown: 27 (28)
Pierce County Council allocates more CARES funding
Updated at 2:45 p.m.
The Pierce County Council has allocated an additional $31 million in CARES Act funding. The largest amount — nearly $15 million — will go toward the public health emergency response to COVID-19.
“Pierce County continues to take action to respond to COVID-19 and support those who are struggling from its impacts,” said County Executive Bruce Dammeier. “I want to thank our County Council for its partnership in getting these resources deployed where they are needed most.”
The most recent funds will also be a directed to a variety of community resilience needs, including mortgage and rental assistance, affordable housing, emergency food support, childcare for first responders and Veterans assistance.
“The County Council knows there are many residents struggling to cover basic needs right now due to the disruption caused by COVID-19,” said Councilmember Connie Ladenburg. “We hope that these additional allocations provide some stability to those who need it through rental and mortgage assistance, homeless support and shelter capacity, and by addressing the rising number of people facing food insecurity.”
UW Medicine announces antibody testing results
Updated at 10:40 a.m.
The UW Medicine Virology Lab announced Monday that antibody testing of frontline UW Medicine healthcare workers shows an approximately 3% prevalence of previous COVID-19 infection, which is below the rate found in the general population.
The early results indicate that there is not a significantly higher risk among the UW Medicine’s frontline healthcare population than in the population at large. Antibody testing involves performing clinical blood tests to check for the presence of antibodies that indicate past infections of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
UW Medicine’s goal in offering antibody testing to all employees is to determine the prevalence of previous COVID-19 infection within the population of healthcare workers compared to the prevalence in the general public.
An initial phase of testing focused on frontline staff at Harborview Medical Center, UW Medical Center, Airlift Northwest and UW Neighborhood Clinics with direct exposure to COVID-19 patients, including those working in the Emergency Department and dedicated COVID-19 intensive and acute care units; a second phase of testing included healthcare workers from regular inpatient units. UW Medicine employees who fall outside of these two groups are also being offered the test in a third phase.
“The low overall rate of past infections in workers directly interacting with and caring for COVID-19 patients is a testament to our preparedness efforts and continued commitment to keeping employees safe,” said UW Medicine’s Dr. John B. Lynch, medical director, Infection Prevention at Harborview Medical Center.
“Our preventative measures included early access to testing, extensive personal protective equipment and using highly trained units specifically dedicated to COVID-19.”
A full analysis and comprehensive data from all three phases of testing done with UW Medicine employees will be published at a future date.
Washington state reports 1,438 cases over weekend
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
After not proving any COVID-19 data on Saturday due to system maintenance, the Washington State Department of Health reported on Sunday reported a two-day total of 1,438 new cases and 14 additional deaths.
Statewide totals have reached 40,656 cases and 1,438 deaths.
King County continues to be the hardest hit with 11,825 cases and 637 deaths. Yakima County has 8,122 cases and 190 deaths while Snohomish County has 3,966 cases and 179 deaths. Pierce County reported 70 new cases and no deaths on Saturday, bringing its totals to 3,208 cases and 97 deaths.
Garfield, the state’s least populous county, has just one reported case. Five other counties are reporting fewer than 10 cases each.
There are 137 cases that have not been assigned to a county.
There were 21 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 admitted to state hospitals on July 4 the most recent date with complete data. The total number of people who have been hospitalized in the state stood at 4,751 on Monday.
There have been 686,005 tests conducted in the state with 5.9% coming back positive.
The test numbers reflect only polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which are given to patients while the virus is presumably still active in the body.
DOH releases statement on accidental messages
Updated at 9 a.m.
The Washington State Department of Heath released a statement on Sunday saying it may have sent COVID-19 related text messages and emails.
While training staff on a new data-sharing platform for case investigations and contact tracing, DOH did not disable the ability for messages to leave the test environment. As a result, phone numbers and emails that had no connection to public health data may have received messages between late May and early July. Less than 50 texts and emails were sent in error.
DOH identified which of the emails and phone numbers could have actually received a messages and sent a follow-up message about the errors, asking people to disregard any text or email they received. DOH also provided a webpage with more information and an email address for any follow-up questions they might have.
“We deeply regret any inconvenience or worry we may have caused,” DOH wrote in a release. “This error does not accurately reflect the high standards we have for our training programs or for our vitally important case investigation and contact tracing work.”
Apple growers qualify for aid after challenging criteria
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced that apple growers are now eligible for relief aid through a coronavirus food assistance program.
The department revised its criteria so apple growers qualify for payments, saying they experienced a sales price loss of at least 5% when selling products between Jan. 15 and April 15, the Yakima Herald-Republic reported.
Previously, the department said apple growers were not eligible based on data it collected at a dozen terminal markets, despite industry officials arguing most sales happen outside those markets.
The U.S. Apple Association and 11 grower groups, including the Washington Apple Commission and the Washington State Tree Fruit Association, provided data last month documenting the price loss was closer to 11%, more than double the federal funding requirement.
“It’s big news today,” Northwest Horticultural Council president Mark Powers said. “It’s a huge win for industry and apple growers.”
The Northwest Horticultural Council is a Yakima-based organization that advocates for the region’s tree fruit industry, including apple growers.
Washington State Tree Fruit Association President Jon DeVaney said direct payments will help apple growers recover their losses from earlier in the year and put them in a better position ahead of the next harvest in the coming months.
Bacteria found in water at Washington psychiatric hospital
Updated at 8:45 a.m.
Bacteria found in the water at Washington state’s largest psychiatric hospital means no one can take showers or wash hands, at a time when COVID-19 is on the rise.
At least 33 workers and eight staff have tested positive for the virus at Western State Hospital, and on Thursday officials notified staff that test results found E coli in the facility’s water.
“During a routine monthly testing, two buildings (not the entire water system) tested positive for bacteria,” said Kelly Von Holtz, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Services.
“One building tested positive for coliform bacteria and a second building tested positive for E. coli – the building that tested positive for coliform bacteria was retested and tested negative,” she said. “Neither of these buildings are patient buildings. One is a maintenance building and the other is a building where activities are held.”
There were no reports of illness from the water, she said
Out of an abundance of caution, a boil-water notice was issued and the state Department of Health was expected to visit the hospital on Friday to find the cause of the outbreak.
“They will also determine the exact levels of bacteria in the water and take additional water samples throughout the hospital to see if Building 32 is the sole source of the contamination,” hospital CEO David Holt said in an announcement to staff.
Staff will be supplying patients with more hand sanitizer as they shut down the ice machines, water fountains and sinks, Holt said.
The kitchen will boil water and 10 cases of bottled water were delivered to each ward, he said. They plan to provide enough to last through the weekend.
This story was originally published July 13, 2020 at 8:46 AM.
