— from Emergency Operations Center, Camp Murray —
Newest numbers. The state of Washington reported 750 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours. This brings the total number of cases to 43,046, as of July 14 at 11:59 p.m. The total number of deaths are at 1,421.
For the most recent tally of cases by county, demographics, and more, visit the Department of Health’s dashboard and the state’s COVID-19 risk assessment dashboard.
Study: Community actions are key to safely reopening schools. Today, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH), Public Health – Seattle & King County and Institute for Disease Modeling (IDM) released a new report that shows reopening schools without taking preventative measures may lead to a significant increase of COVID-19 in the population. Simulating the first three months of school term, the report found King County schools may be able to reopen without sustained epidemic growth, but only with several countermeasures in place and if community-wide COVID-19 transmission is low. Read the release here or watch the media briefing on TVW.
Federal judge dismisses challenge to governor’s emergency declaration. Federal Judge Thomas Rice dismissed a lawsuit in the Eastern District Court of Washington challenging the legality of the governor’s emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In dismissing the complaint, Judge Rice wrote that the governor’s emergency power granted by the Legislature “clearly encompasses an outbreak of a pandemic disease.” The judge also ruled the Department of Labor & Industries lawfully exercised its authority in developing rules that enforce the governor’s emergency proclamations. Read the release here.
