Washington Coronavirus Week In Review

WASHINGTON — The past seven days have brought a mix of good and bad news for the evergreen state.

First, the good: now that Washington is receiving regular shipments of both the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, top state health officials are looking ahead to see which residents can receive the vaccines next, once the first priority group is immunized.

Under the state Department of Health's vaccine distribution plan, Washington is currently in what is called "phase 1a" of distribution, meaning that vaccines have so far been limited to:

• High-risk workers in health care settings
• High-risk first responders
• Residents and staff at nursing homes, or long term care facilities.

But earlier this week officials have slightly expanded who is eligible for this first round of vaccinations. They are now allowing hospitals and clinics to immunize all of their workers, provided those clinics have excess doses and have already vaccinated their high-risk employees and first responders.

State health leaders are also preparing to announce which groups will be allowed to receive the vaccine next. DOH officials say they will release more on that second group, "phase 1b," sometime within the next week.

Read more: As Vaccines Arrive in Washington, DOH Prepares To Widen Scope

Other good news for struggling renters: Washington has officially extended the eviction moratorium through the end of March.

Thursday, Gov. Jay Inslee formally issued Proclamation 20-19.5, extending the state's eviction moratorium through March 31, 2021.

The eviction moratorium began in March 2020, and has been extended three times since. The moratorium bars landlords, property owners and property managers from serving evictions due to unpaid rent, unless there is "a significant and immediate risk to the health, safety, or property of others created by the resident."

Inslee's latest proclamation also expands state rental assistance programs designed to help landlords receive repayment for lost rent.

Read more: Washington Formally Extends Eviction Moratorium

Now the bad news: Washingtonians will have to wait at least one more week than previously expected before the holiday pandemic restrictions expire.

On Wednesday, Gov. Inslee announced that Washington would be extending November's restrictions an additional week: previously, they had been set to expire on Jan. 4.Now they will remain until the 11th.

The Governor's Office says they are working on a plan to help businesses reopen when the restrictions are fully lifted. They expect to release that plan to the public sometime next week.

Read more: Inslee Extends Coronavirus Restrictions To Mid-January

As for coronavirus transmissions, the statewide plateau appears to have continued, with case counts just slightly higher this week than the last. The state has been monitoring several hot spot areas, including all three most populous counties: King, Pierce and Snohomish, all of which also saw a notable jump in fatalities over the past seven days. According to state health officials, other concern areas include Yakima County, Spokane County and Clark County near Portland.

Total coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths by county:

Editors note: Patch is now updating these totals on a weekly, rather than daily, basis. Readers should keep in mind that the increases below represent infections, hospitalizations and deaths over a seven-day period.

The latest figures include only data reported by Dec. 30 at 11:59 p.m., due to the holiday.

The above numbers are provided by the state Department of Health, and some numbers differ from the totals provided separately by county health agencies.