Most recent recap of state COVID-19 news, updates

||| FROM STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH |||

Newest numbers. The Department of Health (DOH) reported a total of 326,404 confirmed cases as of 11:59 p.m. on March 8. There have been 5,077 COVID-19 deaths in Washington.

For the most recent tally of cases by county, demographics, and more, visit the Department of Health’s dashboard and the state’s Road to Recovery Metrics dashboard.

Tuesday, March 9, 2021, data note: Total case counts may include up to 200 duplicates. Negative test results data from Nov. 21-30, 2020, are incomplete. Thus, negative test results and percent positivity (Testing tab) for that period, and case counts, should be interpreted with caution. Otherwise, the incomplete time frames presented in the dashboard are correct and up to date. The Epidemiologic Curves tab is the most accurate representation of COVID-19 activity and is updated daily as new cases are identified and duplicates are resolved.

Confirmation hearing Wednesday morning for Secretary of Health. The Washington State Senate Committee on Health & Long Term Care will hold a confirmation hearing for Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH, Secretary of Health at 8 a.m. on March 10. Read the full news release here [to be posted soon].

Department of Health adopting CDC guidance on safe behaviors post-vaccine. If someone has been fully vaccinated, they can:

• Gather indoors with fully vaccinated people in private residences without wearing a mask, and
• Gather indoors with unvaccinated people from one other household in private residences (for example, visiting with relatives who all live together) without masks, unless any of those people or anyone they live with has an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.

Read the full news release here.

More than 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered in Washington. DOH announced that health care providers have given more than two million doses of COVID-19 vaccine since rollout began in mid-December. This milestone follows several major achievements in the past week, including reaching the state’s goal of giving 45,000 doses of vaccine per day and approaching 100,000 doses of vaccine administered at four state-led mass vaccination sites in just six weeks. Read the full news release here.

Statewide COVID-19 outbreak report. This weekly document provides an overview of reported COVID-19 outbreaks in our state, based on information in DOH’s Washington Disease Reporting System (WDRS). Read the full March 4 report here.

Inslee statement on rising cases of anti-Asian hate crimes. Gov. Jay Inslee released a statement in response to increasing and escalating acts of violence targeting Asians and Asian-Americans, a trend that surged a year ago when COVID-19 first appeared in Washington state. Read the full news release here.

Inslee statement on Washington’s 5,000th COVID-related death. Gov. Jay Inslee issued a statement on March 3 after it was confirmed there were more than 5,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the state since the pandemic began. Read the full news release here.