Coronavirus updates: State reaches 74,635 cases; new testing sites in King County
Updated at 12 p.m.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is encouraging flu and other vaccinations this coming flu season. Safeway Albertsons pharmacies are stocked with vaccine and are ready to safely administer flu shots and back to school vaccinations.
Preventing against influenza during the COVID-19 pandemic is especially important — both to avoid getting other infections at the same time and reducing the burden on an already strained health care system. People at high risk of serious flu complications include young children, pregnant women, those with chronic health conditions and individuals ages 65 and up.
No appointment is necessary. Flu and other vaccines, as permitted per state law, can be administered on a “walk-in” basis and are offered at all Safeway Albertsons pharmacy locations.
Additionally, Safeway Albertsons pharmacists are available to help consult with patients about their specific health conditions and recommend the appropriate formulation of flu vaccine for each member of their family. Pharmacists can immunize children six months and older.
The flu shot is free with most insurance, so there is no co-payment unless required by the plan. Everyone who receives an immunization will also receive a coupon for 10% off their next grocery purchase, where permitted by law.
More information is available here.
State reports 315 new cases Monday
Updated at 9:05 a.m.
The Washington State Department of Health on Monday reported 315 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 15 deaths. The number of deaths represents data from Saturday-Monday. The state is now reporting death counts generated over the weekend in Monday’s and Tuesday’s counts.
Pierce County reported 33 cases Monday and no new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 146 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Monday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 74,635 cases and 1,915 deaths.
Thirty-one people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Aug. 12, the most recent date with complete data. Late March had two days with 88 people admitted, the highest numbers to date during the pandemic.
On Aug. 20, the most recent date with complete data, 14,028 specimens were collected statewide, with 3.4% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 3.7%. More than 1.4 million tests have been conducted in Washington.
The test numbers reflect only polymerase chain reaction tests, which are administered while the virus is presumably still active in the body.
King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 19,643 cases and 723 deaths. Yakima County is second, with 10,948 cases and 242 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 6,794.
All counties in Washington have cases. Garfield and Wahkiakum have case counts of fewer than 10.
On Friday, Washington had a 986-per-100,000-people case rate. The national rate is 1,822 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Louisiana has the highest rate in the United States at 3,188. Vermont is lowest at 259.
There had been more than 6 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 183,431 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Monday evening, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 848,000 people have died from the disease worldwide.
New free COVID-19 testing sites to launch in south King County
Updated at 9:05 a.m.
Two new free COVID-19 test sites will open in south King County over the next two weeks. The drive-through sites will be located in Renton and Auburn.
The Auburn site opens on Sept. 1. It’s located at 2701 C St SW, Auburn, WA 98001 at the East side of the General Services Administration (GSA) property along C St SW. The hours are Monday-Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Register for an appointment here.
The Renton site opens on Sept. 8. It’s located at 805 SW 10th Ave. Renton, 98057. The hours are Monday-Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Register for an appointment here.
Public Health – Seattle & King County recommends that anyone who has COVID-19 symptoms or close contact with someone who has COVID-19 be tested right away. It is also recommended to stay home and away from others while you are waiting for test results.
“We want the people of Auburn, Renton, and all of south King County to take advantage of these and other testing sites in their communities, so that they can keep themselves and their loved ones safe,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “Before flu season arrives, we need to do all we can to lower the rates of COVID-19 across our region.”
The new sites are anticipated to increase testing capacity by more than 1,500 tests per day.
For these two sites, Public Health is partnering with local labs, the UW Medicine and Atlas Genomics, in order to ensure quick turnaround times of testing results. Once a case is identified, contact tracers can work to connect with potential contacts quickly, when people are more likely to be highly contagious.
Did COVID-19 cause only 6% of coronavirus deaths? Viral posts misrepresent CDC report
Updated at 9:05 a.m.
A statistic from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about coronavirus deaths in the United States has sparked a wave of confusion on social media.
COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, was the “only cause mentioned” on death certificates in 6% of deaths involving the virus, the CDC said last week.
Some people mistakenly took that to mean the remaining 94% of coronavirus-related deaths were caused by other underlying health conditions and not COVID-19.
The misconception went viral on social media; Twitter removed a tweet on Sunday that promoted the false interpretation of the CDC’s data, which President Donald Trump shared to his 85.6 million followers, media outlets reported.
What the CDC’s update really means is that 94% of the people who died from the coronavirus had at least one other health condition, in addition to COVID-19, that could have contributed to their passing — not that the additional factor was the sole reason for it.
In fact, the CDC mentions that “for deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death.” This aligns with what the agency has been saying all along.
People over the age of 65 and those with underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease and respiratory issues have a higher risk of severe COVID-19 and death from it.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading immunologist and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force told ”Good Morning America” on Tuesday that the CDC’s report “really did reflect the reality” of those dying from COVID-19.
“The point that the CDC was trying to make was that a certain percentage of them had nothing else but just COVID. That does not mean that someone who has hypertension or diabetes who dies of COVID didn’t die of COVID-19 — they did.”
“So, the numbers that you’ve been hearing, the 180,000 plus deaths are real deaths from COVID-19. Let there not be any confusion about that,” Fauci said.
Another expert at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine shared his thoughts on Twitter.
“Those saying ‘only 6% die from COVID-19 alone,’ or some derivation thereof, don’t understand how infectious diseases work. Many are not operating in good faith, & are the same people who have downplayed this pandemic since February,” said Ryan McNamara, a postdoctoral fellow at UNC.
McNamara tried to explain the meaning behind the data by using HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, as an example. He said that T cells in the immune system that search for and destroy harmful viruses and bacteria are “depleted” in people with AIDS.
This can allow pathogens “to spread unchecked” and tumors to grow; “hence pneumonia & AIDS-associated cancers are leading causes of death in HIV+ patients,” McNamara wrote.
“For SARS-CoV-2, the assault it elicits on the lungs can greatly exacerbate other pre-existing conditions. So things like cardiac arrest, renal failure, liver failure, sepsis, lung scarring, etc. can all occur post-infection with SARS-CoV-2, leading to death.”
Put another way, if a person with diabetes gets into a fatal car accident, it would be misleading to say that individual died because of their diabetes, rather than because of their resulting injuries.
This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 9:12 AM.
