Health & Fitness
Coronavirus In Washington: 10 Deaths, 409 Cases
State health officials reported 10 more deaths and 409 new cases of the coronavirus Friday, Catch up on the latest developments.
SEATTLE, WA —Friday, state health officials confirmed ten new deaths linked to COVID-19 in Washington and 409 new confirmed cases of the disease.
Deaths Thursday were reported in Clark, Franklin, King, Snohomish, Thurston and Yakima counties. Yakima County also continues to bear most of the new cases, with 138 lab-confirmed infections.
The new numbers mean a total of 27,601 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in the state since the outbreak began, and 1,255 people have died.
A total of 455,941 Washingtonians have been tested for the coronavirus, meaning roughly 6.1 percent of tests come back positive.
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Catch up on the latest developments:
Yakima County out of hospital beds for patients
Yakima County has led Washington state in new coronavirus cases for weeks, and now the county is running out of places to put new patients.
Virginia Mason Memorial hospital in Yakima has reported that all of their beds are filled, and not many other options exist in the tri-cities area.
According to The Seattle Times, at least 17 patients have already been transferred out of the county because of bed shortages. A total of 61 beds within the county are filled with coronavirus patients, so 17 patients marks a significant surplus.
Despite being significantly less populous than counties like King, Pierce, and Snohomish, Yakima now accounts for 22 percent of all hospitalized coronavirus patients. Yakima also has more patients in the hospital than King County, which has 10 times the population.
Earlier in the week Gov. Jay Inslee visited Yakima to discuss solutions to the massive caseload there, and local health officials have been trying to encourage more residents to use masks or facial coverings to prevent continued transmissions of the virus.
King County enters Phase 2
Meanwhile, Washington's most populous county has finally qualified and been approved to enter Phase 2 of the governor's tiered Safe Start plan to reopen businesses.
An application to move forward in the Safe Start plan requires the unanimous support of a state's health officials, local lawmakers and executive. On Monday, the King County Board of Health voted 10 - 0 to advance the application, and King County Executive Dow Constantine signed and delivered it to state Secretary of Health John Wiesman, who makes the ultimate call if a county can progress. Wiesman eventually made the call to allow King to move forward early Friday.
As the county enters the second phase, a number of prohibitions have been lifted, and more businesses will be allowed to reopen than were able to under the modified Phase 1. The county will have to remain in Phase 2 for at least three weeks before it is eligible to enter Phase 3, which loosens restrictions even further and allows for gatherings of up to 50 people.
Read more: King County Approved To Enter Phase 2 Of Reopening Plan
| County | Confirmed Cases | Hospitalizations | Deaths |
| Adams | 102 (+1) | 8 (+1) | 0 |
| Asotin | 20 | 1 | 2 |
| Benton | 1,313 (+45) | 180 (+2) | 75 |
| Chelan | 278 | 19 | 6 |
| Clallam | 33 (+1) | 3 | 0 |
| Clark | 635 | 98 | 29 (+1) |
| Columbia | 2 (+1) | 0 | 0 |
| Cowlitz | 130 (+6) | 19 | 0 |
| Douglas | 186 | 12 | 3 |
| Ferry | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Franklin | 1,113 (+32) | 117 (+2) | 29 (+1) |
| Garfield | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Grant | 348 (+20) | 34 (+4) | 4 |
| Grays Harbor | 22 (+1) | 7 | 0 |
| Island | 186 (+2) | 34 (+2) | 12 |
| Jefferson | 33 (+1) | 7 (+1) | 0 |
| King | 9,061 (+98) | 1,720 (+8) | 600 (+3) |
| Kitsap | 185 (+3) | 28 (+1) | 2 |
| Kittitas | 94 (+2) | 2 (+1) | 0 |
| Klickitat | 51 | 8 | 3 |
| Lewis | 47 (+4) | 13 (+1) | 3 |
| Lincoln | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Mason | 41 | 5 | 1 |
| Okanogan | 63 (+1) | 5 | 2 |
| Pacific | 12 | 2 | 1 |
| Pend Orielle | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Pierce | 2,230 (+31) | 391 (+2) | 89 |
| San Juan | 16 | 1 | 0 |
| Skagit | 479 (+5) | 56 (+1) | 15 |
| Skamania | 5 (+2) | 1 | 0 |
| Snohomish | 3,208 (+8) | 594 (+1) | 162 (+2) |
| Spokane | 902 (+22) | 103 (+3) | 37 |
| Stevens | 16 | 4 | 1 |
| Thurston | 208 (+8) | 32 (+2) | 6 (+1) |
| Wahkiakum | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Walla Walla | 129 (+2) | 8 | 3 |
| Whatcom | 474 (+7) | 53 | 39 |
| Whitman | 28 | 0 | 0 |
| Yakima | 5,915 (+138) | 436 (+12) | 131 (+3) |
| Unassigned | 25 (-22) | 3 (+2) | 0 |
| Total | 27,601 | 4,003 | 1,255 |
The above numbers are provided by the state Department of Health, and some numbers differ from the totals provided separately by county health agencies.
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