Here are the latest COVID-19 case numbers confirmed Thursday in Washington state
The Washington state Department of Health reported 3,538 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 while deaths dropped by 166 Thursday.
DOH said in a statement Thursday evening that it will now only report deaths that have an official registered cause and no longer use preliminary cause of death.
“These changes will streamline the process as death counts increase,” DOH said. “Deaths due to factors other than COVID-19 can be hard to definitively rule out. For many of these conditions, COVID-19 may have hastened the death. These are the deaths we are reviewing, along with local health jurisdictions, to assess COVID-19’s impact on the death.”
Pierce County reported 722 cases Thursday and two new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 256 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 192,413 cases and 2,850 deaths, up from 189,625 cases and down from 3,016 deaths Wednesday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019. The DOH revises previous case and death counts daily.
Hospitalizations continue to increase with 89 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 admitted to Washington state hospitals on Nov. 21, the most recent date with complete data. Preliminary data indicates average daily admittances were 106 in early December. Average daily hospitalizations previously peaked during the April surge at 78.
Approximately 12.4% (1,166) of all staffed adult acute care hospital beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients on Thursday. In the state’s intensive care units, 22.2% (262) of staffed adult beds were occupied by suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.
On Nov. 29, the most recent date with testing data, 7,682 specimens were collected statewide, with 15.4% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 15.8%. More than 3.2 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 51,596 cases and 894 deaths. Spokane County is second, with 20,194 cases. Snohomish County has the second highest number of deaths at 302
All counties in Washington have cases. Only four counties have case counts of fewer than 100.
For the past seven days, Washington had a case rate of 37 per 100,000 people. The national rate for the same period is 63.3 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rhode Island has the highest rate in the United States, at 125.6. Hawaii is the lowest, at 6.6.
There have been more than 15.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 292,091 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 69 million.
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 5:12 PM.
