COVID-19 numbers set record Wednesday in Washington state
The Washington state Department of Health reported 11,325 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, a record high since the start of the pandemic.
As of Wednesday, statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are 899,036 cases and 9,909 deaths. The case total includes 105,985 infections listed as probable. Deaths were not updated Wednesday due to a technical issue. In addition, DOH said total case counts could include up to 500 duplicates.
Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.7 million, according to the latest U.S. Census figures.
Hospitalization
From Dec. 24-30, 16.2 percent of staffed intensive care unit (ICU) beds in Washington were occupied by COVID-19 patients. Preliminary data through Tuesday showed that percentage is increasing.
Case rates
For the past seven days, Washington has had a strong upward trending case rate of 669 per 100,000 people.
The national rate for the same period was 1,168 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Vaccine
According to DOH, 62.8 percent of the total state population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
On the national level, 62.3 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated, according to CDC statistics.
U.S. and world numbers
There have been more than 57.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 831,965 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 5.46 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 297 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.
This story was originally published January 5, 2022 at 5:19 PM with the headline "COVID-19 numbers set record Wednesday in Washington state."
