Coronavirus

Here are the latest COVID-19 case numbers confirmed Tuesday in Washington state

The Washington state Department of Health reported 566 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and three deaths.

Pierce County reported 81 cases Tuesday and no new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 499 deaths likely caused by COVID-19, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are 356,536 cases and 5,186 deaths. Those numbers are up from 355,970 cases 5,183 deaths Monday. The case total includes 21,695 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 March 4, the date with the most recent complete data, 29 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.

Preliminary reports indicate average daily hospital admissions were stable at 35 in early March.

Out of the state’s total staffed intensive care unit beds (1,242) approximately 73.2% (909) were occupied by patients Monday. Of those staffed ICU beds, 9.1% (113) held suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.

Case rates

For the past seven days, Washington had an upward trending case rate of 72 per 100,000 people. Thirteen states were lower.

The national rate for the same period was 116 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

New Jersey has the highest rate in the United States at 319. Hawaii is the lowest at 37.

Vaccine

According to CDC, 3.04 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, 164 million doses have been distributed and 128 million shots of the approved vaccines have been given, according to CDC statistics.

As of Monday, 17.6% of the adult U.S. population has been fully vaccinated.

Testing

On March 4, the most recent date with confirmed testing data, 17,260 specimens were collected statewide, with 3.5% testing positive.

The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was a stable 3.3%. More than 5.7 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 88,112 cases and 1,452 deaths. Pierce County is second in cases, with 41,200. Pierce County has the second-highest number of deaths, at 597, 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 29.9 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 543,730 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 2.72 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 124 million.

Craig Sailor
The News Tribune
Craig Sailor has worked for The News Tribune since 1998 as a writer, editor and photographer. He previously worked at The Olympian and at other newspapers in Nevada and California. He has a degree in journalism from San Jose State University.
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