Washington State Emergency Operations Releases Latest COVID-19 Report

Olympia, WA — The Washington State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) continues its response to the global outbreak of COVID-19, and provides regular reports. Fully activated on January 22, 2020, the SEOC has been coordinating the acquisition and delivery of personal protective equipment (PPE), the use of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), intelligence and advanced planning, and logistical support to stakeholders throughout the state.

This latest situation report includes SEOC and state agency activities related to the continued incident response and the Governor’s Safe Start reopening plan.

A highlight from the current report is that “Washington State Secretary of Health John Wiesman announced that he is returning all COVID-19 Safe Start applications from counties whose applications were put on pause or pending review before Governor Jay Inslee implemented a statewide pause on reopening plans. By the time these applications are eligible for review, at least four weeks will have passed. Much has changed during this time period and information in the applications will be outdated. The following county applications have been returned: Clark, Cowlitz, Jefferson, Kitsap, Klickitat, San Juan and Walla Walla.”

Statewide Risks

• Multiple agencies are concerned about general misinformation regarding the positive impacts of mask wearing, and misinformation about negative health effects of mask wearing and how that could be exacerbated further with the scientific debate on infectious transmission of COVID-19.
• The mental and emotional health and wellbeing of healthcare workers and first responders may become a factor in healthcare readiness and capacity as well as overall response operations.
• There is a lack of exhaustive evidence around schools and pandemic spread, but there is a body of research that suggests the closure of schools (in 1918 and 2009) does result in a trough in the wave, signifying schools do play a role in transmission. Potential increased risk for housing and food crisis as early as Fall 2020.
• A possible seasonal influenza epidemic in the fall will lead to additional challenges including disruption of the health and social care systems and a large resurgence of Influenza-like Illness (ILI) and Covid-like Illness (CLI) with local or regional epidemics. A generalized increase in respiratory infections over the winter could also rapidly overwhelm test and trace capacity.
• Following the suspension of routine clinical care and general fear from the public around healthcare systems during the pandemic, there will likely be an increase in the number of poorly-managed chronic conditions or undiagnosed diseases combined with a surge in post-COVID-19 morbidity resulting in overall and long term health consequences.

Statewide COVID-19 Hospitalizations

• Currently Hospitalized: 354
• Currently Ventilated: 42

Statewide there are 4,907 beds available, and 341 ICU beds available.

COVID-19 Case Spikes Statewide (by County*) July 13-19

• Benton: 450
• Chelan: 141
• Clark: 114
• Cowlitz: 58
• Douglas: 94
• Franklin: 278
• Grant: 106
• King: 1,014
• Kitsap: 84
• Kittitas: 92
• Okanogan: 151
• Pierce: 496
• Snohomish: 306
• Spokane: 529
• Yakima: 783

*This isn’t all counties, but those that had major spikes. The total of new cases statewide during period was 5,203.

Cumulative Data

• Deaths: 1,447
• Tested: 809,339
• Positive Tests: 46,946

Statewide Unemployment

Since the week ending in March 7, 2020 when COVID-19 job losses began:

• A total of 2,283,609 initial claims have been filed during the pandemic.
• A total of 1,261,075 distinct individuals have filed for unemployment benefits.
• ESD has paid out over $7.6 billion in benefits.
• 920,153 individuals who have filed an initial claim have been paid.