Washington Reports 13 Deaths, 425 New Coronavirus Cases

SEATTLE — The Washington State Department of Health reported 13 more coronavirus-related deaths and 425 new cases of the virus Wednesday.

Deaths Wednesday were reported in Clark, Grant, King, Kittitas, Lincoln, Pierce, Spokane, and Yakima counties.

The latest numbers mean that a total of 1,822 Washington residents have died and 68,689 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed since the pandemic began.

Lower death tolls and daily coronavirus case counts have state health leaders cautiously optimistic that Washington is starting to move past this second major wave of coronavirus cases. Officials say case counts appear to have plateaued in most counties, and some counties are already starting to see a decline in daily coronavirus cases. That said, they continue to warn everyone: if Washington gets complacent like it did after the first influx of cases, we could see case counts rise and a potential third wave of the virus in fall. That's why, despite the recent improvement, they continue to urge everyone to follow safety guidelines like mask requirements and physical distancing in public spaces.

Inslee issue proclamation requiring agricultural workers receive testing

Okanogan County is one part of the state that is not seeing improvement: there has been a recent explosion in new coronavirus cases there which officials say is linked to their agricultural industry. An earlier outbreak in Yakima County that caused their cases to skyrocket was also linked to outbreaks in their farms and food-packing facilities.

In an attempt to curb those types of outbreaks going forward, Gov. Inslee issued a new proclamation requiring agricultural employers to test their workforce quickly if health officials identify an outbreak among their employees.

“There is no question that we need to escalate our response to this pandemic, and we know that additional focus must be placed on agricultural workplaces,” Inslee said. "From the data, we know that people of color have been disproportionately impacted by this pandemic, and while we have much work to do to address that, this is one step in the right direction."

Additionally, Washington State Secretary of Health John Weisman singled out a specific employer, Gebber Farms, and issued an order requiring all of their employees to be tested over the next few weeks. Gebber is currently in the midst of an outbreak that killed three of their employees in Okanogan County.

Outbreak on Washington boat may hold key to antibodies and immunity

Researchers with the University of Washington School of Medicine and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center say a recent coronavirus outbreak on a fishing boat is proof that antibodies can protect patients from being infected by the coronavirus a second time.

The outbreak took place aboard a fishing vessel that had taken off from Seattle in May. Before leaving, all 122 men and women of the crew were tested for infections and antibodies. None of the crew tested positive for an active coroanvirus infection, but three members had "significant levels" of antibodies, indicating that they had had the virus in the past but had recovered.

While the ship was out at sea, it suffered an outbreak of new coronavirus cases, forcing them to turn around and return to port. Following that, the whole crew was tested a second time and 104 crew members were infected, but the three who had antibodies already showed no signs of reinfection. According to UW Medicine, this suggests that vaccines designed to create antibodies could be effective in staving off the virus.

Read more: Coronavirus Outbreak On Fishing Boat Sheds Light On Antibodies

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.