Washington Reports 19 Deaths, 477 New Coronavirus Cases

SEATTLE — The Washington State Department of Health reported 19 more coronavirus-related deaths and 477 new cases of the virus Tuesday. That's a relatively high, but not unheard of, number of deaths for a single day but one of the lowest daily case counts Washington has seen in weeks. The state has yet to speculate on whether the transmission curve is truly flattening in Washington, but the latest epidemiologic curves from the DOH show that daily case counts have been on a decline from mid-July, where at points the state reported up to a thousand cases a day.

Deaths Tuesday were reported in Benton, King, Lewis, Okanogan, Pierce, and Snohomish counties.

The latest numbers mean that a total of 1,716 Washington residents have died and 64,151 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed since the pandemic began.

Since the beginning of August the state has been unable to accurately report how many coronavirus tests have been performed and what percentage of tests are coming back positive. Now, those reports are in the process of returning as the DOH fixes issues with how testing data is managed and entered. The latest preliminary reports estimated that 954,355 tests have been performed, notably that's about 50,000 fewer tests than they had been reporting when their data entry issue was discovered. If correct, those numbers mean that 6.7 percent of coronavirus tests come back positive: a significant increase from the 5.7 to 5.9 range the state hovered in through much of July.

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Catch up on the latest developments:

Pac-12 football is canceled, at least for fall

The Pac-12 has officially postponed their season into spring of 2021 and possibly even later if the pandemic persists.

The move is a reversal of an announcement made in late July, when the Pac-12 revealed plans for a 10 game conference-only schedule, which would have started in late September. Now instead of that plan, Pac-12 management has announced that they have postponed all competitions through the end of this calendar year, with the hope of returning sometime in the spring.

"It's tremendously disappointing to reach this point, but the continued spread of the coronavirus around the country, plus the new questions being raised about its potential health effects, forced our hand," said UW President Ana Mari Cauce. "We've said all along that our decisions would be guided by our commitment to our students' health and welfare, and that will continue to be our focus."

The Pac-12 says any students who are impacted by the announcement will be allowed to keep their athletic scholarships. The conference is also asking that the NCAA grant students who have opted out of competition another year of eligibility.

Read more: Pac-12 Postpones 2020 Football Season

New guidelines for religious services

Washington's 39 counties may be stuck in a standstill when it comes to reopening businesses and moving through new phases of the Safe Start plan, but the state has been tweaking guidance allowing for slightly more flexibility in select situations.

One of the latest changes came in new guidance from the governor's office pertaining to how religious services and celebrations can operate. Under the new tweaks, worship, religious study classes, religious ceremonies and celebrations can now:

• Include up to 100 people in Phase 1 counties, if the congregation wears facial coverings and can keep six feet of personal space.
• Include up to 200 people, or 25 percent of the room's capacity in Phase 2, with those same mask and physical space requirements.
• Include up to 400 people or 50 percent capacity in Phase 3, also with mask and physical space limitations. In-home religious services are also permitted once again, with a limit of 10 people and mask requirements.

Churches and religious institutions are also being asked to keep a two-week log of all their visitors to help contact tracers in case of an outbreak.

Read more: Inslee Unveils New Coronavirus Guidance For Religious Services

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.