10 Deaths, 501 More Coronavirus Cases In Washington

SEATTLE, WA —Monday, state health officials confirmed ten new deaths linked to COVID-19 in Washington and 501 new confirmed cases of the disease.

Deaths Monday were reported in Benton, Franklin, Pierce, Snohomish, and Yakima counties.

The new numbers mean a total of 32,253 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in the state since the outbreak began, and 1,320 people have died.

A total of 548,220 Washingtonians have been tested for the coronavirus, meaning roughly 5.9 percent of tests come back positive. That's an improvement over the last few weeks, where the percentage has hovered at 6 percent or higher. The percentage of positive tests is a key metric the state uses to determine how well the pandemic is being controlled— the goal is to eventually increase testing until fewer than 2 percent of tests come back positive.

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Catch up on the latest developments:

What did Washingtonians spend their stimulus on?

When the federal government issued coronavirus stimulus checks to the public through the CARES act, there was a lot of discourse about how that money would be used, and how helpful the one-time payments would really be for average Americans. Well, now we're starting to get some insight.

According to a new report from The Seattle Times, most Washington residents who've received their checks simply used them to try to get by.

After pouring through U.S. Census Bureau data, Times Columnist Gene Balk found a few key facts about the checks and how they were used:

• 2.5 million people in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties received checks.
• Of those 1.8 million have already spent the money or plan on household expenses or plan to spend the money paying off expenses.
• Of the remainder, 393,000 put the money into savings. Another 330,000 used it to pay off debts.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the way money was spent varied significantly depending on personal income. For Seattle households making under $50,000 a year, 91 percent spend the money on expenses, compared to homes making at least $100,000, of which only 54 percent used the money to stay afloat.

Read the full report on The Seattle Times' website here.

Washington may need help paying unemployment

The state is weighing potentially asking the federal government for a loan sometime over the next few months if Washington continues to struggle with high unemployment.

The Employment Security Department says the state's unemployment trust fund had dropped from $4.7 billion at the beginning of March down to $2.8 billion as we near the end of June. Now officials say they're worried that continued unemployment could drain the fund, and that they'll need to prepare to borrow money from Washington D.C.

“When you look, however, at the fact that the demand for unemployment benefits are seven to 10 times what they were during the recession, it really draws on this pool of funds dramatically,” said Employment Security Department Commissioner Suzi LeVine.

Nearly 1.2 million Washington residents have applied for unemployment since the pandemic began in earnest in early March. Since then, the state has paid out $6.5 billion to more than 875,000 applications.

About a dozen states have already applied and been approved by the federal government to receive loans. Some have already received that funding, including California, New York and Texas.

Read more: Washington May Request Federal Loan For Unemployment Payments

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.