Record number of new COVID-19 cases confirmed Tuesday in Washington state
The Washington state Department of Health reported a record high 3,482 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 35 deaths Tuesday.
Pierce County reported 343 cases Tuesday and one new death. Pierce County has a total of 225 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Tuesday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 151,019 cases and 2,690 deaths, up from 147,537 cases and 2,655 deaths Monday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.
Forty-three people were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Nov. 5, the most recent date with complete data. Average daily hospitalizations peaked in early April at 78. Preliminary data shows hospitalizations have been increasing in November.
On Nov. 13, the most recent date with complete testing data, 26,311 specimens were collected statewide, with 9% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 8.8%. More than 2.9 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 40,522 cases and 864 deaths. Pierce County is second, with 15,370 cases, according to the state’s tally. That number differs from the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s tally due to lags in reporting data. Yakima County has the second highest number of deaths at 295.
All counties in Washington have cases. Only five counties have case counts of fewer than 100.
For the past seven days, Washington had a case rate of 30.3 per 100,000 people. The national rate for the same period is 52.3 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. North Dakota has the highest rate in the United States, at 158.5. Hawaii is the lowest, at 6.8.
There have been more than 12.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 259,477 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest number of reported cases and deaths of any nation.
More than 1.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 59 million.
