Here are the latest COVID-19 case numbers confirmed Wednesday in Washington state
The Washington state Department of Health reported 1,055 new cases of COVID-19 and 50 deaths Wednesday.
Pierce County reported 163 cases Wednesday and five new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 437 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 330,807 cases and 4,759 deaths. Those numbers are up from 329,752 cases and 4,709 deaths Tuesday. The case total includes 17,174 cases listed as probable. 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 Jan. 29, the date with the most recent complete data, 76 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.
Preliminary reports indicate average daily hospital admissions were 63 in early February.
Out of the state’s total staffed intensive care unit beds (1,189), approximately 78.2% (930) were occupied by patients Wednesday. Of those staffed ICU beds, 11.5% (137) held suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.
Case rates
For the past seven days, Washington had a case rate of 10.7 per 100,000 people. Four states were lower.
The national rate for the same period was 24.5 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
South Carolina has the highest rate in the United States at 55.9. Hawaii is the lowest at 3.5.
Vaccine
According to CDC, 1.2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Washington.
As of Tuesday, more than 1.5 million doses had been delivered to the state.
Currently approved vaccines require two shots for maximum effectiveness.
Washington state is in phase 1B tier 1 of vaccinations. That phase adds anyone 65 years and older and people 50 years and older living in multigenerational households.
On the national level, 72.4 million doses have been distributed and 56.2 million shots of the approved vaccines have been given, according to CDC statistics. The population of the United States is approximately 328 million.
Testing
On Jan. 28, the most recent date with confirmed testing data, 20,480 specimens were collected statewide, with 5.6% testing positive.
The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 5.8%. More than 4.9 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
According to DOH data, King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 82,201 cases and 1,329 deaths. Pierce County is second in cases, with 36,870. Spokane County has the second-highest number of deaths at 536.
All counties in Washington have cases. Only 12 of the state’s 39 counties have case counts of fewer than 1,000.
U.S. and world numbers
There have been more than 27.8 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 490,394 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Wednesday evening, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest number of reported cases and deaths of any nation.
More than 2.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 109 million.
