Coronavirus updates: State passes 100,000 cases as third wave continues
The number of COVID-19 cases has passed the 100,000 mark in Washington, the state Department of Health reported, with 651 new cases and three deaths reported Thursday.
Since mid-September, the state’s seven-day average case count has been increasing as Washington sees its third wave of coronavirus infections. The average has gone from a low of 351 on Sept. 12 to 589 on Oct. 9.
The seven-day average death total has dropped since peaking in the second wave on July 23.
Pierce County reported 79 cases Thursday and no new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 185 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Thursday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 100,525 cases and 2,289 deaths, up from 99,874 cases 2,286 deaths Wednesday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.
Twenty-one people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Oct. 3, the most recent date with complete data. Average daily hospitalizations peaked in early April at 78.
On Oct. 11, the most recent date with complete data, 5,523 specimens were collected statewide, with 4.2% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 3.3%. More than 2.2 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 25,712 cases and 798 deaths. Yakima County is second, with 11,759 cases and 270 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 9,547, according to the state’s tally.
All counties in Washington have cases. Eight counties have case counts of fewer than 100.
Probe launched at Tacoma hospital over COVID-19 cases involving 2 patients, 1 worker
Tacoma-based CHI Franciscan on Thursday announced it was investigating new cases of COVID-19 reported at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma.
The health system is working with the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department investigating two patient cases and one employee case of COVID-19.
According to a statement issued Thursday evening, a probe to identify the cause of possible transmission was underway along with contact tracing.
All patients are tested for the coronavirus before admittance. Both patients initially tested negative, then tested positive later.
“St. Joseph Medical Center notified and tested staff and patients on the impacted floor (7th floor) as soon as the first cases were confirmed. Rapid tests are being deployed at the hospital to expedite results when possible,” the health system said Thursday.
It added that it was in the process of notifying staff and family members of affected patients and patients recently discharged.
“Out of an abundance of caution, St. Joseph Medical Center is restricting new admissions and visitors to the seventh floor. Some currently scheduled in-patient procedures may be postponed if it is medically safe to do so,” the health system said.
“As COVID-19 cases are unfortunately on the rise in the community again, we recognize that health care facilities and providers are not immune to COVID-19. Our priority is taking immediate action to prevent any further spread if cases are confirmed, while working closely with public health and continuing to reduce the risks to our patients and employees,” said St. Joseph Medical Center chief operating officer Timothy O’Haver in a statement.
Trump says COVID-19 vaccine is coming ‘within weeks.’ Experts say that’s not possible
During the second and last debate before the Nov. 3 election, President Donald Trump insisted — again — that a coronavirus vaccine will be ready “within weeks.”
But according to scientific experts, there’s no way that’s happening, at least not with a vaccine that has proven safe and effective through appropriately timed clinical trials.
“There is absolutely *NO* vaccine coming in just ‘a few weeks,’” epidemiologist Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, a senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington D.C., and chief health economist for Microclinic International, said on Twitter during the presidential debate.
“If for some hellish reason Trump WH tries to rush a vaccine tomorrow or this coming week — it would be reckless and against all scientific standards for establishing efficacy and safety,” he continued.
The process to develop, test and distribute a vaccine, no matter the disease involved, usually takes years to accomplish. But Trump said he doesn’t think his own health officials, who have presented a different timeline, are “counting on the military the way I do.”
“We have Operation Warp Speed, the military is going to distribute the vaccine,” Trump said during the debate.
When debate host Kristen Welker of NBC asked the president if his claims on the vaccine timelines were a “guarantee,” Trump said, “no.”
“It’s not a guarantee but it will be by the end of the year,” he responded.
Operation Warp Speed, a public–private partnership initiated by the Trump administration, was designed “to produce and deliver 300 million doses of safe and effective vaccines with the initial doses available by January 2021,” according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
A fact sheet on the initiative says, “rather than eliminating steps from traditional development timelines, steps will proceed simultaneously, such as starting manufacturing of the vaccine at industrial scale well before the demonstration of vaccine efficacy and safety as happens normally.”
“This increases the financial risk, but not the product risk,” the sheet reads.
But experts have a different take.
In the ongoing randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials, participants are randomly assigned to either receive a vaccine candidate or a placebo.
“There is no specified time frame to determine efficacy. What drives the time frame is how frequently disease occurs in those who receive the study vaccine compared to those who receive the placebo vaccine,” William Moss, executive director of Johns Hopkins’ International Vaccine Access Center, told CBS News in September. “During a pandemic this can happen faster than in a non-pandemic situation.”
But if there wasn’t a pandemic, phase 3 trials — the last step before a vaccine is approved for public use — could last at least two to three years, Moss added. Only then would manufacturing of the vaccine begin after data review is complete.
How COVID-19 silenced WA cover bands, including a renowned Jimi Hendrix impersonator
Like many people, the coronavirus brought Randy Hansen’s world to a screeching halt.
In a matter of weeks, Hansen watched as his life and livelihood were upended.
Six months later?
The 65-year-old still has no idea when he’ll work again.
“I was so busy it was incredible. I was looking forward to time off,” Hansen said of his work-life balance before COVID-19.
“It’s weird,” he continued. “This is the longest time I’ve ever spent at home.”
As the pandemic stretches into the fall, with few signs of subsiding, Hansen’s predicament is hardly unusual. He’s one of thousands left waiting for the return of some semblance of normalcy and a return to regular paychecks.
There’s just one small distinction.
For the last 45 years, Hansen — a lanky Seattle-area native with blazing fast fingers and an unmistakable showman’s flare — has arguably been the premier Jimi Hendrix impersonator in the world.
For the time being, COVID-19 has made cover bands a casualty, and it’s a pain Hansen — one of the most tenured and prolific tribute artists in the world — knows intimately.
Back in January, Hansen — who has toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe and shared bills with the likes of Heart, Stevie Ray Vaugn and Steve Miller — played one of his last shows in Tacoma, at the McMenamins Elk Temple Spanish Ballroom, he recalled Tuesday.
Since then, he’s had nothing but time and virtuoso guitar licks on his hands.
“It’s the only thing I’ve lived off of for the last 45 years. I’ve never had another job,” the guitarist said by phone from his home in Auburn, sounding cooped up and antsy to return to the stage.
“Now, it feels like I just retired. But I didn’t really retire. I’m ready to go another 20 years,” Hansen said.
Matt Driscoll, Craig Sailor and Debbie Cockrell contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 9:06 AM.
