Coronavirus updates: State passes 170k cases
Updated at 11 a.m.
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.
First vaccine doses to go to state’s front-line medical providers and long-term care sites
Updated at 11 a.m.
Anticipation is building around the potentially imminent arrival of limited doses of a COVID-19 vaccine — that much was clear at a virtual briefing with Washington state health officials Wednesday.
Michele Roberts, who’s leading COVID-19 vaccine planning and distribution at the state Department of Health, shared updates on the preparation process and was empathetic when reporter after reporter asked about various details.
“I understand why everybody is interested — we are really all holding out hope for the vaccine,” Roberts said, especially given the current state of the coronavirus.
Earlier in the briefing, state health officials shared harrowing statistics on ever-increasing COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
Many hospitals are now canceling non-urgent procedures to make space and preserve staff for COVID-19 patient care, state Health Officer Dr. Kathy Lofy said.
Secretary of Health John Wiesman said an uptick in cases is expected due to last week’s Thanksgiving holiday. However, Lofy said it’s difficult to interpret case counts and test positivity rates around holidays because people’s “health care-seeking behavior” changes.
Lofy said deaths have been rising in the state: From about five reported per day in early September to about 12 deaths being reported per day.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has now received applications for Emergency Use Authorization from both Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, and Roberts has said previously that the state is hopeful there will be a vaccine to start administering in mid-December. The federal government estimated 62,400 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will arrive in a first allocation for Washington and about 200,000 doses will be here by the end of December, as McClatchy has previously reported.
Roberts said work to finish the initial vaccine allocation and prioritization framework is underway, including feedback from “communities, partners, sectors, and industries that are heavily impacted by COVID-19” and guidance from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) within the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Secretary of Health John Wiesman said an uptick in cases is expected due to last week’s Thanksgiving holiday. However, Lofy said it’s difficult to interpret case counts and test positivity rates around holidays because people’s “health care-seeking behavior” changes.
Lofy said deaths have been rising in the state: From about five reported per day in early September to about 12 deaths being reported per day.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has now received applications for Emergency Use Authorization from both Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, and Roberts has said previously that the state is hopeful there will be a vaccine to start administering in mid-December. The federal government estimated 62,400 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will arrive in a first allocation for Washington and about 200,000 doses will be here by the end of December, as McClatchy has previously reported.
Roberts said work to finish the initial vaccine allocation and prioritization framework is underway, including feedback from “communities, partners, sectors, and industries that are heavily impacted by COVID-19” and guidance from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) within the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
DSHS to provide Rapid Response Nursing Teams to long-term care facilities
Updated at 11 a.m.
The Department of Social and Health Services is using $1.3 million in CARES Act funding to contract with temporary nursing agencies to provide six Rapid Response Crisis Staffing teams that will be deployed to long-term care facilities facing staffing shortages during the pandemic. More than 400 of the state’s roughly 4,100 facilities are currently reporting active cases among residents or staff.
“As COVID-19 cases spike across Washington state, many long-term care and developmental disabilities facilities and agencies, including nursing homes and assisted living facilities, are struggling to maintain staffing levels,” DSHS Secretary Cheryl Strange said in a release. “This program will provide qualified staffing support to facilities that experience a shortage, and offer a much-needed break to health care workers who have been on the frontline for months.”
Facility staff exposed to the virus are required to quarantine, usually without notice, and many facilities struggle to fill the staffing gaps. Residents at facilities often depend on the expertise and care provided by health care workers. This program helps ensure that resident’s care will continue even if permanent staffing is not available due to the impacts of COVID-19.
The six Rapid Response Crisis Staffing teams will be comprised of Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses and Certified Nursing Assistants who can provide immediate, short-term nursing and aide support at no cost to the facilities or agencies.
“With the increasing virus activity across the state, we saw a need to have emergency teams available to address staffing shortages in long-term care facilities,” Aging and Long-Term Support Administration Assistant Secretary Bill Moss said in release. “There are a number of facilities struggling to maintain staffing, and we anticipate this problem will get worse during this surge. These teams will help provide the care that people in these facilities need in this crisis.”
The Rapid Response teams will be located in counties with the highest need based on virus reporting, but can be deployed to facilities and agencies throughout the state. Currently, those are King, Pierce, Snohomish, Clark, Yakima and Spokane counties.
In the event the data shows a need for an additional Rapid Response Team in an area or in other areas, these teams may be repositioned to respond to that need.
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 11:18 AM.
