Coronavirus In Redmond: The Week In Review

RENTON, WA — Over the past seven days Washington confirmed 4,451 new coronavirus infections, pushing the state past its 100,000th coronavirus case.

As of the latest release Friday afternoon from the Washington State Department of Health, officials have confirmed 101,345 COVID-19 cases. The state also saw 57 casualties over the past week, for a total of 2,296 Washingtonians dead due to the pandemic.

100,000 coronavirus cases is an ominous milestone to pass, and it's joined by other foreboding news: health officials and state leaders say they now believe Washington is entering into a third surge of new cases.

In Redmond, Public Health - Seattle & King County recorded no new cases Friday, with 26 illnesses and one death resulting from the coronavirus over the past two weeks. The city's 14-day testing positivity rate is at 1.9 percent, while King County's overall positivity rate remains at 2.4 percent. The county's rate of new cases remains in the highest bracket, with 93 cases reported per 100,000 residents over 14 days — nearly four times the target threshold.

Catch up on the latest developments:

U.S. approaches record daily cases again

The situation across the county mirrors the one in Washington, as the United States approached its largest-ever single-day toll of new coronavirus infections Friday.

As the Associated Press reports, the nation's seven-day rolling average for daily COVID-19 cases hit 61,140 Thursday, up from 44,647 just two weeks ago. That's nearing the record high rolling average of 67,293 daily cases on July 22, driver by summer outbreaks in Florida, California, Texas and Arizona.

While Washington's case counts have increased lately, the current nationwide surge in cases has largely been attributed to growth in South Dakota, Florida, Idaho and Texas.

The surge also has health care experts concerned as some hospitals reach capacity.

“We’ve essentially shut down an entire floor of our hospital. We’ve had to double rooms. We’ve bought more hospital beds,” Dr. Robert Scoggins, a pulmonologist at the Kootenai Health hospital in Coeur d’Alene told the Associated Press.

Read the full report from the Associated Press

Widespread mask use could save 130,000 lives by February

A new study from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation found that, if 95 percent of Americans wore masks while in public, the country could save more than 129,000 lives by the end February alone.

According to researchers, even if 85 percent wore masks in public, the study found that it would save nearly 96,000 lives in that same time frame. 85 to 95 percent mask compliance may seem unreasonably high, but researchers say it is within the realm of possibility:

"Mask use has emerged as a contentious issue in the United States with only 49% of US residents reporting that they ‘always’ wear a mask in public as of 21 September 2020. Regardless, toward the end of 2020, masks could help to contain a second wave of resurgence while reducing the need for frequent and widespread implementation of [social distancing mandates]. Although 95% mask use across the population may seem a high threshold to achieve and maintain, on a neighborhood scale this level has already been observed in areas of New York; and on a state level, reported mask use has exceeded 60% in Virginia, Florida and California."

As the situation currently stands, the researching team says they expect an excess of 511,000 Americans will have died due to COVID-19 by the end of next February.

Read the full study from the IHME COVID-19 Forecasting Team on Nature Medicine.

Washington drafts COVID-19 vaccination plan

The Washington State Department of Health has submitted an interim COVID-19 vaccination plan to the CDC for approval, giving a better idea of how the state will prepare to distribute a potential vaccine in Washington.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention required all states to submit a distribution proposal by Oct. 16, describing in detail how the state could broadly administer a vaccine once one is given FDA approval. Now that that plan is completed and submitted, officials say they have a better idea of how preparation and distribution will work, but stress that nothing is set in stone just yet.

The total planning document is not available to the public yet, but the DOH has released some details explaining the state will attempt to make distribution equitable, and include feedback from communities that are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 or at higher risk for the disease.

"We plan to open up the doors to feedback about this plan," said Lacy Fehrenbach, deputy secretary for COVID-19 Response. "Decision-making is happening alongside our many partners at the local, state, and federal levels."

Read more: Washington Submits COVID-19 Vaccination Plan To CDC

Patch reporter Charles Woodman contributed to this story.

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