Here are the latest COVID-19 case numbers confirmed Wednesday in Washington state
The Washington state Department of Health reported 896 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday and seven deaths from the disease.
Pierce County reported 164 cases Wednesday and one new death. Pierce County has a total of 493 deaths likely caused by COVID-19, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are 352,012 cases and 5,156 deaths. Those numbers are up from 351,116 cases and 5,149 deaths Tuesday. The case total includes 20,903 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. 26, the date with the most recent complete data, 45 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.
Preliminary reports indicate average daily hospital admissions were stable at 34 in early March.
Out of the state’s total staffed intensive care unit beds (1,228) approximately 76.3% (943) were occupied by patients Tuesday. Of those staffed ICU beds, 7.2% (89) held suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.
Case rates
For the past seven days, Washington had a case rate of 61.8 per 100,000 people. Four states were lower.
The national rate for the same period was 114 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
New Jersey has the highest rate in the United States at 287. Hawaii is the lowest at 25.4.
Vaccine
According to CDC, 2.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Washington.
Washington state is in phase 1B tier 2 of vaccinations.
On the national level, 147 million doses have been distributed and 113 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. 26, the most recent date with confirmed testing data, 17,221 specimens were collected statewide, with 3.3% testing positive.
The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was a stable 3.4%. More than 5.6 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 86,850 cases and 1,442 deaths. Pierce County is second in cases, with 40,380. Pierce County has the second-highest number of deaths, at 590, 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 29.6 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 537,955 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Tuesday evening, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest number of reported cases and deaths of any nation.
More than 2.67 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 121 million.
This story was originally published March 17, 2021 at 6:13 PM.
