Record number of new COVID-19 cases confirmed Friday in Washington state
The Washington state Department of Health reported a record high 4,261 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and no new deaths Friday. Up 300 of those cases could be overcounted, according to the state. The most recent record high was 3,482 on Nov. 24.
“Due to laboratory report volumes reaching unprecedented levels during the past two weeks, we have not been able to complete deduplication activities for some cases today,” the state said. Deduplication refers to the elimination of duplicated data.
Pierce County reported 128 cases Friday and no new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 231 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Friday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 158,167 cases and 2,704 deaths, up from 153,906 cases Friday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.
Fifty-nine people were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Nov. 8, the most recent date with complete data. Average daily hospitalizations peaked in early April at 78. Preliminary data shows current hospitalization numbers are exceeding April’s peak.
About 9.8% of all staffed adult acute care hospital beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients on Friday. In the state’s intensive care units, 26.9% of staffed adult beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients.
On Nov. 16, the most recent date with complete testing data, a record high 35,629 specimens were collected statewide, with 8.4% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 9%. 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 42,743 cases and 866 deaths. Pierce County is second, with 16,143 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 31.3 per 100,000 people. The national rate for the same period is 51.2 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. North Dakota has the highest rate in the United States, at 135.6 Hawaii is the lowest, at 7.4.
There have been more than 13 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 264,823 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Friday 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 61 million.
This story was originally published November 27, 2020 at 5:46 PM.
