Here are the latest COVID-19 case numbers confirmed Wednesday in Washington state
The Washington state Department of Health reported 3,126 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 45 deaths Wednesday.
Pierce County reported 236 cases Wednesday and three new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 244 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Wednesday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 170,342 cases and 2,850 deaths, up from 167,216 cases and 2,805 deaths Tuesday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.
Ninety-two people were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Nov. 13, the most recent date with complete data. Average daily hospitalizations peaked during the April surge at 78. Preliminary data indicates average daily admittances were 95 in late November.
Approximately 10.7% of all staffed adult acute care hospital beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients on Wednesday. In the state’s intensive care units, 22.4% of staffed adult beds were occupied by suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.
On Nov. 20, the most recent date with testing data, 20,273 specimens were collected statewide, with 15.1% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 9.9%. 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 45,757 cases and 897 deaths. Pierce County is second, with 17,690 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 304.
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 30.7 per 100,000 people. The national rate for the same period is 49.2 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Minnesota has the highest rate in the United States, at 100.3. Hawaii is the lowest, at 5.6.
There have been more than 13.9 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 273,170 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Wednesday 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 64 million.
