Coronavirus updates: State passes 46K cases; NFL sets dates for camp
This page includes coronavirus developments around Washington state for Sunday, July 19.
Updated at 6:30 p.m.
The Washington State Department of Health on Sunday reported 920 new COVID-19 cases and three deaths.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 46,946 cases and 1,447 deaths, up from 46,026 cases and 1,444 deaths on Saturday.
King County continues to be the hardest hit, with 12,558 cases and 631 deaths. Yakima County has the second-highest numbers, with 8,805 cases and 190 deaths. Pierce County reported 97 new cases and no deaths on Sunday for a total of 3,769 cases and 102 deaths.
Twenty-nine people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on July 11, the most recent date with complete data.
Washington state has now conducted 809,339 coronavirus tests with 5.8% coming back positive. The test numbers reflect only polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.
All counties in Washington are now reporting cases. Five of them have case counts of less than 10.
Pierce County reports 97 new cases
Updated at 4:20 p.m.
Pierce County on Sunday reported 97 new COVID-19 cases and no additional deaths.
County totals are now 3,769 cases and 102 deaths since the first case in the pandemic was recorded March 6.
Th Tacoma Pierce-County Health Department has reported 974 cases in the last 14 days. As of Saturday, the 14-day case rate per 100,000 people is 108.0. The average cases per day over the last 14 days as of Saturday is 69.6.
The county estimates 1,473 active cases.
Pierce County has experienced record case numbers in recent days. The Tacoma-Pierce County Heath Department said in a release that clusters of cases are appearing throughout the county. Of those cases, 22% are among 20-29 year old who make up 14% of the population.
The department also said it is seeing an increase of cases or secondary transmissions from Fourth of July and all types in Phase 2 where people are not physically distancing or wearing face coverings. More businesses are also experiencing small numbers of cases, according to the release.
Daily totals for cases and deaths can change as the county receives new information, finds duplicate data or is assigned cases originally attributed to other counties.
Testing is available at various sites in the county. This week, Rite Aid launched drive-thru testing at some of its stores in Washington, including 7041 Pacific Ave. in Tacoma, and 5700 100th Street SW, Suite 100 in Lakewood. More information is available at www.riteaid.com/pharmacy/services/covid-19-testing.
For more information on other 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: 96 (94)
▪ Central Pierce County: 245 (235)
▪ East Pierce County: 100 (99)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 156 (151)
▪ Frederickson: 135 (131)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 103 (100)
▪ Graham: 108 (105)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 18 (no change)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 124 (121)
▪ Lakewood: 376 (372)
▪ Parkland: 211 (207)
▪ Puyallup: 258 (251)
▪ South Hill: 196 (186)
▪ South Pierce County: 78 (76)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 44 (no change)
▪ Spanaway: 136 (131)
▪ Tacoma: 1,180 (1,160)
▪ University Place: 178 (167)
▪ Unknown: 27 (26)
State reports 959 new cases on Saturday
Updated at 9 a.m.
The Washington State Department of Health on Saturday reported 959 new cases of COVID-19 and 10 additional deaths.
Statewide totals have reached 46,026 cases and 1,444 deaths, up from 45,067 cases and 1,434 deaths on Friday.
Pierce County reported 121 new cases and no deaths. King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington with 12,953 cases and 637 deaths. Yakima County has 9,040 cases and 193 deaths.
Washington state has conducted 791,786 tests. The test numbers reflect only polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.
NFL says team camps will begin on time
Updated at 9 a.m.
The NFL is telling the Seahawks and all other teams training camps are on.
And that they’ll figure out the rest of it as they go.
The league sent a letter Saturday from its executive vice president for football operations Troy Vincent to all 32 teams. It sets the start dates for camps.
Rookies are to report Tuesday, July 21. Russell Wilson and quarterbacks plus injured players needing to continue rehabilitation in training rooms at team headquarters are to report Thursday. All other players are due in camp on July 28.
The Seahawks have been scheduled to start camp July 28 at their Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton all along, throughout the league closing this offseason due to the COVID-19 virus.
Rookies for the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans are to report Monday. Those two teams are scheduled to play the first game of the NFL season Sept. 10. That’s three days before the rest of the league begins the regular season.
Seattle is scheduled to open Sept. 13 at Atlanta.
Tuesday when the rookies report to Seahawks headquarters in Renton will be the first time the facility will be open to players since the coronavirus shut it down in March.
The league is telling teams camp is a go despite unresolved issues with the NFL Players’ Association over player safety, testing for COVID-19, preseason games—and the potential for billions of dollars in losses this year if the league plays games in empty stadiums.
Few or no fans attending games seems likely. COVID-19 cases have been reaching peak levels this summer in multiple states with NFL teams, most notably Florida (where the Dolphins, Buccaneers and Jaguars play), Arizona (the Cardinals) and Texas (the Cowboys and Texans).
If it comes to it the NFL can force and enforce its own rules to start training camp and the season in lieu of an agreement with the union on protocols. That’s per the new collective bargaining agreement the league and players ratified in March.
The players don’t want it to come to that.
The union chiefs had what NFLPA president JC Tretter of the Cleveland Browns termed an emergency call Thursday night with team doctors. The team doctors told the union it is safe to open training camps, as long as appropriate measures are in place.
“They gave their medical opinion it was safe to open training camp,” NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said Friday, “and that’s where we are.”
Smith also said on a conference call Friday with the Pro Football Writers of America coaches have told him the league’s return-to-play protocols will not work.
The union wants teams to test players every day. The league has been talking about every other day or every three days.
“We believe daily testing is important, especially given some of these hot spots,” Smith said Friday. “We don’t right now plan on changing that position.”
Washington state has reached an “explosive” COVID-19 situation. What does that mean?
Updated at 9 a.m.
Public health experts from around Washington warned Friday evening that the state is “in an explosive situation,” according to a report released by the State Department of Health.
The report paints a grim picture of COVID-19 conditions in Washington. The state is in the early stages of a runaway outbreak, the experts said.
“Washington state is in the early stages of an exponential statewide outbreak that has zero chance of being reversed without changes to our collective behavior and policies to support that change,” the report warns. “This is a matter of utmost urgency.”
If transmission doesn’t slow soon, officials said, schools might not be able to reopen and further restrictions, even lockdowns, could be necessary.
In March, Washington experienced one of the first outbreaks in the nation at the Life Care Center in Kirkland. The state responded quickly with shelter-in-place orders that kept the virus at low levels throughout the spring.
But as businesses reopened in June and people began socializing again, many without wearing masks, cases in Washington rapidly accelerated, with daily increases now “substantially higher” than the March peak, according to the report.
Infectious disease experts use the number labeled R to measure how fast a disease is spreading. The R-value describes how many more people one infected person is likely to infect.
For example, R=1 means that every sick person will infect on average one person. When R is less than 1, the disease is not spreading much and the outbreak can be controlled.
The report found western Washington’s R-value to be 1.54 and eastern Washington’s R-value to be 1.41. This means that cases could continue to nearly double if increased social distancing is not followed.
NWSLMS kicks off with South Sound event
Updated at 9 a.m.
Offcials with the Northwest Super Late Model Series and South Sound Speedway have agreed on a date to get underway for 2020.
The NWSLMS Kick-off 100 will be held on August 15 with drivers facing the .375-mile paved oval located just outside Tenino, Wash.
According to a release, the NWSLMS does not expect to have fans in the stands but is working on a livestream option. Purse structure, entry fees and other details will be announced in the coming days.
This story was originally published July 19, 2020 at 8:54 AM.
