Here are the latest COVID-19 numbers confirmed Wednesday in Washington state
Following the break of a data logjam, the Washington state Department of Health reported more than 41,000 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday. It did not represent a spike in the disease, the agency said.
“It is likely due to several factors, including the ability to process more cases using a brand-new processor that is now up and running; and finally catching up with the backlog of positive lab results caused by system slowdowns over the last several weeks due to Omicron,” DOH said.
As of Jan. 25, the state’s preliminary death tally was 10,580. The confirmed death tally as of Jan. 9 was 10,269.
The statewide case total from the illness caused by the coronavirus stood at 1,257,918 cases on Wednesday.
The state revises preliminary data on a daily basis until it’s considered confirmed, sometimes lagging up to two weeks. It releases new data to the public on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.7 million, according to the latest U.S. Census figures.
Hospitalization
During Jan. 13-19, 31.6 percent of staffed intensive care unit (ICU) beds in Washington were occupied by COVID-19 patients. Out of all staffed ICU beds, 92.1 percent were occupied in the same period. The state no longer releases more recent data.
Acute care hospitals in Washington reported a total of 2,132 COVID-19 patients occupying beds Tuesday with 190 on ventilators.
Case rates
For the past seven days, Washington has had a slightly downward trending case rate of 1,456 per 100,000 people.
The national rate for the same period was 1,322 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Vaccine
According to DOH, 63.4 percent of the total state population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
On the national level, 63.5 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated, according to CDC statistics.
U.S. and world numbers
There have been more than 72.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 874,886 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest total number of reported cases and deaths of any nation.
More than 5.62 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 361 million.
Testing
On Sept. 15, DOH stopped updating testing statistics on its website because it was having difficulty processing an increase in data. On Jan. 3, the agency said the halt in updating will continue through February 2022.
