Here are the latest COVID-19 case numbers confirmed Wednesday in Washington state
The Washington state Department of Health reported 882 new cases of COVID-19 and 31 deaths from the disease Wednesday.
Pierce County reported 101 cases Wednesday and seven new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 457 deaths likely caused by COVID-19, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are 336,565 cases and 4,912 deaths. Those numbers are up from 335,683 cases and 4,881 deaths Tuesday. The case total includes 17,888 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 Feb. 5, the date with the most recent complete data, 81 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.
Preliminary reports indicate that average daily hospital admissions were downward trending to 46 in mid-February.
Out of the state’s total staffed intensive care unit beds (1,202) approximately 78.8% (947) were occupied by patients Tuesday. Of those staffed ICU beds, 12.6% (152) held suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.
Case rates
For the past seven days, Washington had a downward trending case rate of 11.2 per 100,000 people. Four states were lower.
The national rate for the same period was 19.7 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
New Jersey has the highest rate in the United States at 34.1. Hawaii is the lowest at 3.4.
Vaccine
According to CDC, 1.51 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Washington.
As of Wednesday, more than 2.01 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 and older and people 50 and older living in multigenerational households.
On the national level, 88.6 million doses have been distributed and 66.4 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 Feb. 5, the most recent date with confirmed testing data, 20,124 specimens were collected statewide, with a downward trending 4.8% testing positive.
The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 5.1%. More than 5.1 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 83,357 cases and 1,380 deaths. Pierce County is second in cases, with 37,632. Spokane County has the second-highest number of deaths, at 551.
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 28.3 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 504,775 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 112 million.
