Here are the latest COVID-19 case numbers confirmed Friday in Washington state
The Washington state Department of Health reported 784 new cases of COVID-19 Friday and nine deaths from the disease.
Pierce County reported 70 cases Friday and three new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 473 deaths likely caused by COVID-19, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are 343,868 cases and 5,041 deaths. Those numbers are up from 343,084 cases and 5,032 deaths Thursday. The case total includes 19,399 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. 14, the date with the most recent complete data, 32 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.
Preliminary reports indicate that average daily hospital admissions were trending downward toward 40 in late February.
Out of the state’s total staffed intensive care unit beds (1,221) approximately 78.3% (956) were occupied by patients Thursday. Of those staffed ICU beds, 8% (98) held suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.
Vaccine
According to CDC, 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Washington.
As of Friday, more than 2.62 million doses had been delivered to the state.
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, 114 million doses have been distributed and 85 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. 14, the most recent date with confirmed testing data, 5,382 specimens were collected statewide, with a downward-trending 3.8% testing positive.
The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 3.3%. More than 5.3 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 84,855 cases and 1,415 deaths. Pierce County is second in cases, with 38,909. Spokane County has the second-highest number of deaths, at 575.
All counties in Washington have cases. Only 12 of the state’s 39 counties have case counts of fewer than 1,000.
U.S. and world numbers
There have been more than 28.8 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 522,610 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 2.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 116 million.
This story was originally published March 5, 2021 at 6:13 PM.
