Where cases stand in Washington
- 350 new coronavirus cases reported as of Sunday by the Washington State Department of Health (DOH). The DOH is no longer reporting updated death totals on the weekends.
- Total: 1,991 deaths among 79,826 overall cases in Washington state.
- Since the start of the pandemic, the DOH reports that 7,081 people have been hospitalized for COVID-19 in Washington state.
- The state reports of the total confirmed cases in the state, Washington's coronavirus death rate is 2.5%.
The fires that have hit Washington state and the West Coast come with an added danger this year, health experts say — an elevated risk of coronavirus.
Dust, ash and particles in smoke can irritate the lungs, cause inflammation and affect a person’s immune system.
Inflammation could increase the vulnerability to lung infections, including the coronavirus, health experts from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.
Cloth masks, which help slow the spread of COVID-19 by blocking droplets coming from a person’s mouth and nose, do little to protect against inhaled smoke, according to the CDC.
Skagit drive-through testing closed
Due to air quality concerns, Skagit County Unified Command extended the closure of the drive-through testing site through Monday, Sept.14.
County officials said the decision was made to protect the health of test site employees and volunteers.
Unified Command plans to reopen the site on Tuesday, Sept. 15 but that decision may be affected by air quality.
The Washington State Department of Ecology predicts that conditions will remain at “unhealthy” or worse levels in the region until at least Monday afternoon. You can get up to date smoke forecasts here.
Coronavirus activity in Washington state appears to be declining as of late August, according to the latest situation report released by the Washington State Department of Health (DOH).
The report released Friday shows the reproductive number, that's how many new people each COVID-19 patient will infect, was estimated at 0.86 for western Washington on Aug. 17, which is down from the estimate of 0.97 in the state's last report. In eastern Washington, the reproductive number was estimated at 0.91 on Aug. 14, down from the estimate of 0.98 in the last report.
