Here are the latest COVID-19 case numbers confirmed Thursday in Washington state
The Washington state Department of Health reported 1,369 new cases of COVID-19 and 15 deaths Thursday. The case count represents a high not seen since early February.
Pierce County reported 120 cases Thursday and two new deaths. The county has 513 deaths likely caused by COVID-19, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are 365,762 cases and 5,262 deaths. Those numbers are up from 364,393 cases and 5,247 deaths Wednesday. The case total includes 23,493 infections 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 13, the date with the most recent complete data, 39 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.
Preliminary reports indicate average daily hospital admissions were slightly increasing at 37 in mid-March.
Out of the state’s total staffed intensive care unit beds (1,235) approximately 78.3% (967) were occupied by patients Wednesday. Of those staffed ICU beds, 10% (124) held suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients. That number is trending up.
Case rates
For the past seven days, Washington has had an increasing case rate of 91.8 per 100,000 people. Eighteen states were lower.
The national rate for the same period was 131 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Michigan has the highest rate in the United States at 398. Arkansas is the lowest at 40.5.
Vaccine
According to the CDC, 3.65 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Washington.
Washington state is in phase 1B tiers 3 and 4 of vaccinations.
On the national level, 200 million doses have been distributed and 153 million shots of the approved vaccines have been given, according to CDC statistics.
As of Thursday, 21.7% of the adult U.S. population has been fully vaccinated.
Testing
On March 13, the most recent date with confirmed testing data, 10,770 specimens were collected statewide, with 4% testing positive.
The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was a stable 3.3%. More than 5.9 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 91,104 cases and 1,468 deaths. Pierce County is second in cases, with 42,724. Pierce County has the second-highest number of deaths, at 610, 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 30.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 553,042 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest total number of reported cases and deaths of any nation.
More than 2.82 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 129 million.
This story was originally published April 1, 2021 at 5:07 PM.
