Coronavirus updates: State reaches 167,216 cases
Updated at 11 a.m.
The Washington state Department of Health reported 2,197 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 31 deaths Tuesday. Hospitalization rates are now exceeding April’s peak and one in five intensive care unit beds in Washington is occupied by suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.
Pierce County reported 282 cases Tuesday and six new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 241 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 167,216 cases and 2,805 deaths, up from 165,019 cases and 2,774 deaths Monday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.
Fifty-five people were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Nov. 12, the most recent date with complete data. Average daily hospitalizations peaked in early April at 78. Preliminary data indicates that record was exceeded on Nov. 18 and is now over 100 admittances per day.
Approximately 9.9% of all staffed adult acute care hospital beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients on Tuesday. In the state’s intensive care units, 21.2% of staffed adult beds were occupied by suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.
On Nov. 20, the most recent date with complete testing data, 12,746 specimens were collected statewide, with 23.5% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 11.1%. More than 3 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 45,127 cases and 887 deaths. Pierce County is second, with 17,441 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 297.
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 33.1 per 100,000 people. The national rate for the same period is 48.7 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Minnesota has the highest rate in the United States, at 107.6. Hawaii is the lowest, at 5.7.
There have been more than 13.6 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 270,003 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 63 million.
How long do you have to quarantine after COVID-19 exposure? CDC announces new guidance
Updated at 11 a.m.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced during a Wednesday media briefing that it continues to recommend a quarantine period of 14 days after exposure to someone with COVID-19 to reduce the spread of the disease.
After analyzing new research and “extensive modeling,” however, the agency is recommending two other “acceptable alternatives” in an effort to make preventive measures more accessible for the working public and lessen burdens on health care systems.
The first option includes a quarantine period that ends 10 days after exposure to someone with the coronavirus if you are not experiencing symptoms and have not been tested.
CDC officials said research shows there’s anywhere between a 1% to 12% “residual risk” that someone remains infected after a 10-day quarantine period has ended — “an acceptable risk for many people.”
The second option includes a quarantine period that ends after seven days only if you tested negative for COVID-19 and are experiencing no symptoms.
This alternative, which requires a negative test, carries a 5% to 10% risk that the person is still positive after a 7-day quarantine period.
The agency noted that either a PCR or antigen test would suffice to determine if you are currently infected with the coronavirus.
CDC officials also added guidance about traveling amid the holiday season as COVID-19 case surges.
They suggest people avoid travel altogether, but those who do should get tested one to three days before getting on a plane or train and three to five days after travel. People should combine this with reducing non-essential activities for “a full seven days after travel.’”
Ambulance services at ‘breaking point’ as coronavirus surges, advocacy group warns
Updated at 11 a.m.
Ambulance services in the U.S. have been pushed to a “breaking point” as the country stares down another surge in coronavirus cases, advocates warn.
Without additional funding, they fear the industry is on the brink of collapse.
“The 911 emergency medical system throughout the United States is at a breaking point,” Aarron Reinert, president of the American Ambulance Association, said in letter to federal authorities. “Without additional relief, it seems likely to break, even as we enter the third surge of the virus in the Mid-West and West.”
The American Ambulance Association is a trade organization representing the emergency medical services industry. In a letter dated Nov. 25 addressed to the Department of Health and Human Services and obtained by McClatchy News, it attributed the current strain on the system to an uptick in calls for ambulances coupled with a lack of federal funding and Medicare reimbursements during the pandemic.
The letter seeks $43,500 per ambulance, or $2.62 billion for ground ambulance service providers, from the Provider Relief Fund — a $175 billion coffer established for hospitals and health care providers under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.
Ground ambulance providers were allocated $350 million under the Provider Relief Fund, the American Ambulance Association said. Nursing homes and rural hospitals, by comparison, received $7.4 billion and $11 billion, respectively, the letter states.
That money has all but run out for ambulance service providers, NBC News reported.
“All the funding that the federal government gave us, whether it was PPP [Paycheck Protection Program] funding or money from HHS, all of that is long gone,” Jim Finger told NBC. “But we still have all these issues, and we’re trying to find ways to financially survive and continue to do our jobs.”
This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 11:24 AM.
