Here are the latest COVID-19 case numbers confirmed Wednesday in Washington state
The Washington state Department of Health reported 2,191 new cases of COVID-19 and 64 deaths Wednesday.
Pierce County reported 243 cases Wednesday and nine new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 321 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 260,752 cases and 3,605 deaths. The case total includes 10,446 cases listed as probable. Those numbers are up from 258,561 cases and 3,541 deaths on Tuesday. DOH revises previous case and death counts daily.
Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.
Hospitalizations
As of Dec. 18, the date with the most recent complete data, 115 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.
Preliminary reports indicate average daily hospital admissions were 96 in late December.
Out of the state’s total staffed intensive care unit beds (1,219), approximately 81.2% (990) were occupied Wednesday. Of those occupied ICU beds, 21.8% (266) held suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.
Case rates
For the past seven days, Washington had a case rate of 33.6 per 100,000 people. Five states are lower.
The national rate for the same period is 65.7 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Arizona has the highest rate in the United States, at 118.3. Hawaii is the lowest, at 9.8.
Vaccine
According to the CDC, 104,975 people have been vaccinated with a first dose in Washington and 403,500 doses have been delivered to the state as of Wednesday. Currently approved vaccines require two shots for maximum effectiveness.
On the national level, 17.2 million doses have been distributed and 5.3 million people have received the first shot of the approved vaccines.
Testing
On Dec. 26, the most recent date with confirmed testing data, 8,170 specimens were collected statewide, with 22% testing positive.
The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 10.6%. More than 3.9 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.
County numbers
King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 66,286 cases and 1,085 deaths. Pierce County is second in cases, with 27,436. Snohomish County has the second-highest number of deaths at 404.
All counties in Washington have cases. Only four counties have case counts of fewer than 100.
U.S. and world numbers
There have been more than 21 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 360,741 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 1.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 87 million.
