Washington state reports nearly 300 new coronavirus cases, but data lagging county totals
Washington state on Tuesday added 298 cases and 22 deaths to its coronavirus case totals.
The Washington state Department of Health reported 8,682 coronavirus cases and 394 deaths, up from 8,384 cases and 372 deaths reported Monday.
The state totals have been lagging for days as the reporting system struggles to process the volume of test results.
As of Tuesday, the state’s testing totals were showing a total from April 3. Pierce County’s totals on the state website are much lower than reported locally but show an additional death than what the county reported Tuesday.
Pierce County on Tuesday listed 760 cases and 14 deaths.
King County is still far and away the county with the most cases, with 3,486 cases and 230 deaths from COVID-19 listed on the county’s website.
Snohomish County has the second-most reported cases, with 1,659 cases and 61 deaths according to its website.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREHow we are reporting coronavirus numbers
The News Tribune reports confirmed coronavirus cases as listed by the Washington Department of Health and the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department in their daily updates.
The state total includes all cases submitted by county health departments by 11:59 p.m. the previous day and is updated once a day by 6 p.m. on its website. Its numbers only include the cases the health departments have reported directly to the state. In some cases, county health departments have reported cases publicly but not to the state health department by the daily deadline, leading to different totals on occasion.
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department updates its total by 2 p.m. each day on its website, and consists of all new confirmed cases reported by 11:59 p.m. the previous day.
This story was originally published April 7, 2020 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Washington state reports nearly 300 new coronavirus cases, but data lagging county totals."
