Here are the latest COVID-19 case numbers confirmed Friday in Washington state
The Washington state Department of Health reported 636 new cases of COVID-19 Friday and 16 deaths from the disease.
Pierce County reported 117 cases Friday and no new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 481 deaths likely caused by COVID-19, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are 348,516 cases and 5,123 deaths. Those numbers are up from 347,880 cases and 5,107 deaths Thursday. The case total includes 20,350 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. 21, the date with the most recent complete data, 41 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.
Preliminary reports indicate that average daily hospital admissions were stable at 32 in early March.
Out of the state’s total staffed intensive care unit beds (1,270) approximately 79.4% (1,009) were occupied by patients Thursday. Of those staffed ICU beds, 7.9% (100) held suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.
Case rates
For the past seven days, Washington had a case rate of 63 per 100,000 people. Three states were lower.
The national rate for the same period was 139 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Missouri has the highest rate in the United States at 1,387. Hawaii is the lowest at 25.1.
Vaccine
According to CDC, 2.44 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Washington.
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. Recently added were child care workers, along with educators and staff working pre-K through 12th grade.
On the national level, 133 million doses have been distributed and 101 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. 21, the most recent date with confirmed testing data, 7,643 specimens were collected statewide, with 4.3% testing positive.
The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was stable at 3.8%. More than 5.5 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 86,002 cases and 1,439 deaths. Pierce County is second in cases, with 39,728. Pierce County has the second-highest number of deaths, at 584, according to DOH, which counts deaths differently than the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
All counties in Washington have at least 100 cases. Only 11 of the state’s 39 counties have case counts of fewer than 1,000.
U.S. and world numbers
There have been more than 29.3 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 532,384 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Friday evening, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest number of reported cases and deaths of any nation.
More than 2.6 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 119 million.
This story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 5:57 PM.
