Coronavirus updates: State passes 80k cases; Amazon to hire 100,000
Updated at 5:55 p.m.
The Washington state Department of Health on Monday reported 312 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 15 deaths from the weekend. DOH does not report deaths on Saturdays and Sundays.
Pierce County reported 20 cases Monday and no new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 160 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 80,138 cases and 2,006 deaths, up from 79,826 cases and 1,991 Sunday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.
Twenty-two people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Aug. 26, 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 Sept. 3, the most recent date with complete data, 13,338 specimens were collected statewide, with 3.8% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 3.3%. More than 1.65 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 20,912 cases and 747 deaths. Yakima County is second, with 11,171 cases and 251 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 7,338.
All counties in Washington have cases. Eleven counties have case counts of fewer than 100.
On Monday, Washington had a 1,059-per-100,000-people case rate. The national rate is 1,984, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Louisiana has the highest rate in the United States at 3,399. Vermont is lowest at 269.
There had been more than 6.54 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 194,411 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Monday evening, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 925,000 people have died from the disease worldwide.
Pierce County reports 20 new cases
Updated at 5:55 p.m.
Pierce County reported 20 new COVID-19 cases Monday and no additional deaths.
County totals are now 7,200 cases and 160 deaths since the first case in the coronavirus pandemic was recorded March 6.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has reported 516 cases in the past 14 days. The 14-day case rate per 100,000 people is 57.2.. The goal for counties in Phase 2 is 25 or fewer per 100,000.
The average cases per day over the past 14 days is 36.9.
There are an estimated 1,141 still-active cases in the county, according to the health department.
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. For more information on 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: 176 (177)
▪ Central Pierce County: 440 (439)
▪ East Pierce County: 245 (no change)
▪ Edgewood/Fife/Milton: 303 (304)
▪ Frederickson: 271 (no change)
▪ Gig Harbor area: 197 (196)
▪ Graham: 242 (no change)
▪ JBLM: No longer reported
▪ Key Peninsula: 56 (no change)
▪ Lake Tapps/Sumner area: 230 (no change)
▪ Lakewood: 657 (no change)
▪ Parkland: 391 (389)
▪ Puyallup: 434 (429)
▪ South Hill: 377 (376)
▪ South Pierce County: 180 (177)
▪ Southwest Pierce County: 75 (76)
▪ Spanaway: 336 (331)
▪ Tacoma: 2,226 (2,221)
▪ University Place: 289 (no change)
▪ Unknown: 75 (76)
State reports 350 new cases Sunday
Updated at 8:25 a.m.
The Washington State Department of Health on Sunday reported 350 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. The department is no longer reporting deaths on the weekends.
Pierce County reported 47 new cases and no new deaths on Sunday. Pierce County had a total of 160 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Saturday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 79,826 cases and 1,991 deaths, up from 79,476 cases on Saturday.
King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 20,863 cases and 744 deaths. Yakima County is second, with 11,153 cases and 251 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 7,181, according to the Tacoma Pierce-County Health Department.
All counties in Washington have cases. Wahkiakum is the only county with a case count fewer than 10.
Army COVID-19 vaccine may produce a side benefit: Cure for the common cold
Updated at 8:25 a.m.
Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research are advancing a vaccine that may be able to prevent strains of the common cold in the future.
But their immediate concern is the imminent flu season because nearly seven months since receiving their first samples of the novel coronavirus from a Washington state patient, they still don’t know whether catching the flu could increase the chances of getting COVID-19.
“When this virus emerged, it was sort of coming toward the tail end of the flu season. And now we have both, at the same time, and we don’t know what that’s going to look like,” said Dr. Kayvon Modjarrad, director of emerging infectious diseases at Walter Reed in Maryland. “If you get sick with flu, is that going to make you more susceptible of getting COVID or risk of it, or vice versa? We don’t know that.”
The vaccine that Modjarrad and his team are working on would target not just COVID-19, but also other coronavirus-related illnesses, including several variants of the common cold.
“Most children, by age two or three, have been infected with one of these common cold coronaviruses,” Modjarrad said. “I don’t think people are really focused on trying to prevent the common cold, but that is, I think, an important side benefit of what we are trying to do,” he told McClatchy in an interview.
While the Walter Reed vaccine candidate is currently focused on COVID-19, the lab has structured the vaccine to be able to target different types of coronavirus. Once they have “proof of concept” that the vaccine is safe and effective, Modjarrad said, the Army lab will decide whether to pivot their efforts to creating the “pan-coronavirus” vaccine that would help prevent the common cold and other potential novel coronaviruses.
Modjarrad said that they are currently testing their vaccine in monkeys, and depending on the results, will enter into human trials toward the end of the year.
From preliminary research in mice, the vaccine has generated “extremely high levels of antibodies” that neutralize the coronavirus, and has also demonstrated a strong safety profile, he said.
Amazon to hire 100,000 to keep up with online shopping surge
Updated at 8:25 a.m.
Amazon will hire another 100,000 people to keep up with a surge of online orders.
The company said Monday that the new hires will help pack, ship or sort orders, working in part-time and full-time roles. Amazon said the jobs are not related to its typical holiday hiring.
The Seattle company reported record profit and revenue between April and June as more people turned to it during the pandemic to buy groceries and supplies.
The company already had to hire 175,000 people earlier this year to keep up with the rush of orders, and last week said it had 33,000 corporate and tech jobs it needed to fill.
This time around, Amazon said it needs the people at the 100 new warehouses, package sorting centers and other facilities it’s opening this month.
Alicia Boler Davis, who oversees Amazon’s warehouses, said the company is offering $1,000 sign-on bonuses in some cities where it may be harder for it to find workers, such as Detroit, New York, Philadelphia and Louisville, Kentucky. Starting pay at Amazon is $15 an hour.
Things are about to get a lot busier at Amazon’s warehouses. In addition to the holiday shopping rush, Amazon plans to hold its one of its busiest shopping days, Prime Day, in the fall this year after postponing it from July.
Amazon will be monitoring whether it needs to hire more workers for the holidays, but doesn’t have anything to announce yet, Boler Davis said. Last year, it hired 200,000 ahead of the holidays.
This story was originally published September 14, 2020 at 8:28 AM.
