13 More Deaths, 815 New Coronavirus Cases In Washington

SEATTLE, WA — State health officials confirmed 13 new deaths linked to COVID-19 in Washington and 815 new confirmed cases of the disease Friday, capping off another week of high case counts across the state that has health officials and lawmakers struggling to adapt.

Deaths Monday were reported in Benton, Douglas, Grant, King, Pierce, Skagit, Snohomish, Thurston and Yakima counties. One death in Walla Walla county was also reassigned.

Health officials across the state are warning residents that, if the state wants the case count to go back down, they need to take the virus seriously once again. That means wearing a mask in public, practicing social distancing, limiting gatherings with people outside your household, and practicing better hygiene with frequent hand washing.

Experts also want to stress that patients can spread the virus for days before even knowing they have it themselves, another reason that residents need to stay home as much as possible and stop gathering with friends or in public spaces, even if they feel healthy.

The new numbers mean a total of 50,824 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in the state since the outbreak began, and 1,495 people have died.

A total of 883,982 Washingtonians have been tested for the coronavirus, meaning roughly 5.7 percent of tests come back positive.

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Catch up on the latest developments:

King County has quadrupled daily case counts since June

King County is reporting an average of 171 new coronavirus cases a day each day over the past week— up from around 40 cases a day in early June. That’s near the peak of around 200 cases a day in April, and a spike that has health officials worried that the virus is spiraling out of control as residents become more and more lax about following important safety guidelines.

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“We all need to reboot our attitude about this disease and our resolve to live with it safely,” said Dr. Jeff Duchin, Health Officer for Public Health — Seattle & King County.

Another worrying sign: the number of new infections in older adults. Over the past few weeks health officials have repeatedly warned that the high infection rate in younger adults would likely begin to spread to other age groups as those younger, more active and mobile adults move through their community. Now that process appears to have begun, an increase in cases across all age ranges has lifted the median age of new patients from 26 years old in mid-June to 36 currently.

If the county can’t do that, there may be consequences, including new restrictions and regulations.

Read more: King County Quadrupled Daily Coronavirus Cases Since Early-June

Pierce County official warns schools not to open classrooms this fall

Schools across Pierce County may not be able to reopen for in-person classes after all, and some have already announced that they will not.

On Thursday, Dr. Anthony Chen, Director of Health for the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, issued a letter to superintendents of districts across the county, warning them that it is not currently safe to reopen classrooms for in person learning in the fall.

“Based on the COVID-19 disease activity in Pierce County and our region, I do not feel it is safe to open schools in September for traditional classroom learning,” Chen said. “The situation could change, and I may change my recommendation at a later date. I am offering this recommendation at this time to respect our local school districts’ needs to plan and make decisions to have time to implement.”

Shortly after the announcement, both the Puyallup and the Sumner-Bonney Lake School Districts announced that they would resume remotely in the fall, and experts say other school districts are likely to follow.

Read more: Pierce County Health Warns Schools It Is Not Safe To Reopen

Total coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths by county:

The above numbers are provided by the state Department of Health, and some numbers differ from the totals provided separately by county health agencies.

[NORECIRC]

This article originally appeared on the Seattle Patch