Here are the latest COVID-19 case numbers confirmed Thursday in Washington state
The Washington state Department of Health reported 2,095 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 50 deaths Thursday.
Pierce County reported 286 cases Thursday and two new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 246 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 172,437 cases and 2,900 deaths, up from 170,342 cases and 2,850 deaths Wednesday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.
Seventy-six people were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Nov. 14, the most recent date with complete data. Average daily hospitalizations peaked during the April surge at 78. Preliminary data indicates average daily admittances were 97 in late November.
Approximately 11.1% of all staffed adult acute care hospital beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients on Thursday. In the state’s intensive care units, 22.8% of staffed adult beds were occupied by suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.
On Nov. 20, the most recent date with testing data, 26,547 specimens were collected statewide, with 11.5% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 9.5%. The state has not provided any testing information after Nov. 20 for several days and that figure has been revised daily. 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 46,070 cases and 905 deaths. Pierce County is second, with 17,912 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 312.
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 31.2 per 100,000 people. The national rate for the same period is 49.9 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. South Dakota has the highest rate in the United States, at 98.1. Hawaii is the lowest, at 5.2.
There have been more than 14 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 275,729 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Thursday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest number of reported cases and deaths of any nation.
More than 1.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 65 million.
