Here are the latest COVID-19 case numbers confirmed Wednesday in Washington state
The Washington state Department of Health reported 2,892 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday and 49 deaths.
Pierce County reported 423 cases Wednesday and nine new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 348 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Wednesday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are 281,202 cases and 3,838 deaths. Those numbers are up from 278,310 cases and 3,789 deaths Tuesday. The case total includes 12,001 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 Dec. 25, the date with the most recent complete data, 99 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.
Preliminary reports indicate average daily hospital admissions were 102 in early January.
Out of the state’s total staffed intensive care unit beds (1,188), approximately 80.7% (959) were occupied by patients Wednesday. Of those staffed ICU beds, 18.1% (215) held suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.
Case rates
For the past seven days, Washington had a case rate of 37.1 per 100,000 people. Seven states were lower.
The national rate for the same period was 74.8 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Arizona has the highest rate in the United States at 134.7. Hawaii is the lowest at 13.4.
Vaccine
According to the CDC, 208,238 people in Washington (2.7% of the population) have been vaccinated with a first dose and 572,600 doses have been delivered to the state as of Wednesday. Currently approved vaccines require two shots for maximum effectiveness.
Currently, Washington state is in phase 1A of vaccinations. That phase includes high-risk health care workers, high-risk first responders and residents and staff of congregate living settings such as nursing homes.
On the national level, 29.3 million doses have been distributed and 10.2 million people have received the first shot of the approved vaccines. The population of the United States is approximately 328 million.
Testing
On Jan. 2, the most recent date with confirmed testing data, 10,713 specimens were collected statewide, with 22.4% testing positive.
The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 17.1%. More than 4.1 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
King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 71,106 cases and 1,135 deaths. Pierce County is second in cases, with 30,008. Snohomish County has the second-highest number of deaths at 437.
All counties in Washington have cases. Only three counties have case counts of fewer than 100.
U.S. and world numbers
There have been more than 23 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 384,277 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Wednesday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest number of reported cases and deaths of any nation.
More than 1.9 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 92 million.
This story was originally published January 13, 2021 at 5:19 PM with the headline "Here are the latest COVID-19 case numbers confirmed Wednesday in Washington state."
