Washington Reports 15 Coronavirus Deaths, 313 New Cases Tuesday

SEATTLE, WA —Tuesday, state health officials confirmed 15 new deaths linked to COVID-19 in Washington and 313 new confirmed cases of the disease.

Deaths Tuesday were reported in Benton, Clark, Franklin, King, Pierce, Snohomish, Spokane, Thurston, Whatcom and Yakima counties. Yakima County also continues to bear most of the new cases, with 169 lab-confirmed infections.

The new numbers mean a total of 24,354 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in the state since the outbreak began, and 1,176 people have died. A total of 415,054 Washingtonians have been tested for the coronavirus, meaning roughly 5.9 percent of tests come back positive.

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Catch up on the latest developments:

How Washington is progressing through the Safe Start plan

Eight counties in eastern Washington have already entered Phase 3 of Gov. Inslee's Safe Start plan to reopen businesses, and by the week's end 10 more counties will be eligible to join them.

Those counties are: Asotin, Skamania, Cowlitz, Grant, Pacific, Adams, Grays Harbor, Lewis, Spokane, and Walla Walla counties. Of those 10, Asotin and Skamania have already applied to enter Phase 3. A county must have been in Phase 2 for at least 3 weeks before it is eligible to enter Phase 3.

Meanwhile, the state is also looking at two other applications from different counties hoping to move forward. Chelan and Douglas counties are both applying to enter a "modified Phase 1" similar to the variance granted to King County. Modified Phase 1 has been created for counties that don't meet Phase 2 requirements, but want to bring some businesses back with even tighter restrictions than the ones in place for Phase 2.

Read more: 10 More Counties Eligible For Phase 3 This Week

Protections for high-risk workers

Governor Jay Inslee is extending a proclamation giving protections to workers who are at higher risk for the coronavirus, while guaranteeing they won't lose their jobs just for being at high risk.

According to the governor's office, the proclamation protects workers who are 65 years old or older, and those who have underlying medical conditions that might make coronavirus symptoms worse.

The proclamation gives high-risk workers these rights and protections:

• The right to choose an alternative work assignment, including remote work or alternative work locations, as well as the right to adequate social distancing protections in the workplace.
• The ability to use accrued leave, sick time, or unemployment benefits if an alternative work assignment is not possible and the employee cannot safely come to work. Employees can keep work health insurance while off the job in this situation.
• Finally, employers are banned from firing and replacing workers just because they are high-risk and have alternative needs.

Read the full proclamation from the governor here.

Coronavirus cases 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.