15,185 Coronavirus Cases Confirmed In Washington; 834 Deaths

SEATTLE, WA — Testing has confirmed another 182 new coronavirus cases in Washington as of Sunday, as well as four additional deaths.

The latest updates bring the state's totals to 15,185 confirmed cases and 834 deaths from COVID-19.

Washington's testing positivity rate is 7.2%, among 212,005 residents tested since January.

Catch up on the latest developments:

Coronavirus upends Washington's potato industry

For farmer Mike Pink, spring is supposed to be a time of hope, when he can survey a green field of young potato plants and anticipate the bounty to be pulled from the sandy soils of the Columbia Basin.

This year, this is a season when dreams die. Due to an epic potato glut that imploded his market, he has decided to do what was once unthinkable — destroy part of his crop rather than sink more dollars into cultivation, the Associated Press reported.

That grim task unfolded Friday as a diesel tractor began discing under 240 acres of Ranger Russets, plants that if left in the ground until summer would likely have yielded more than 14 million pounds of tubers.

"It is just devastating. I have been dragging my feet, hoping something happens, and someone says they can use these," Pink told the AP. "Once I destroy them, they're gone. But I just don't know what else to do."

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State received 14,000 requests by businesses to open early

In the first few weeks after Washington Gov. Jay Inslee issued the Safer-at-Home order in late March, businesses made more than 14,000 requests to stay open, the Seattle Times reports.

Many of the business owners claimed they were essential, or just took issue with the distinction between essential and nonessential, the Times reported. In response, the state often warned these businesses that they could face legal consequences for staying open.

Last week, Inslee announced a four-phase reopening plan for businesses across the state, saying that some low-risk businesses could reopen before the end of May.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases by county (from the Washington Department of Health*)

Total confirmed cases: 15,003 (830 deaths)
King: 6,449 cases (459 deaths)
Snohomish: 2,509 cases (109 deaths)
Pierce: 1,393 cases (50 deaths)
Yakima: 1,296 cases (47 deaths)
Benton: 518 cases (44 deaths)
Spokane: 369 cases (22 deaths)
Franklin: 363 cases (11 deaths)
Skagit: 354 cases (13 deaths)
Clark: 328 cases (19 deaths)
Whatcom: 316 cases (28 deaths)
Island: 169 cases (9 deaths)
Grant: 170 cases (3 deaths)
Kitsap: 150 cases (2 deaths)
Chelan: 118 cases (5 deaths)
Thurston: 111 cases (1 death)
Douglas: 82 cases (1 death)
Walla Walla: 88 cases
Cowlitz: 53 cases
Adams: 48 cases
Lewis: 29 cases (3 deaths)
Jefferson: 28 cases
Mason: 26 cases (1 death)
Okanogan: 21 cases (1 death)
Clallam: 19 cases
Asotin: 18 cases (2 deaths)
Klickitat: 18 cases (3 deaths)
Kittitas: 15 cases
San Juan: 14 cases
Whitman: 14 cases
Grays Harbor: 12 cases
Stevens: 9 cases (1 death)
Pacific: 4 cases
Skamania: 3 cases
Lincoln: 2 cases
Pend Oreille: 2 cases
Wahkiakum: 2 cases
Columbia: 1 case
Ferry: 1 case

63 cases remain unassigned to individual counties. The state is still determining how to sort the hundreds of cases with no definite origin.

*Some numbers differ from the totals provided separately by county health agencies.