Coronavirus Cases Surpass 15,000 in Washington; 830 Deaths

SEATTLE, WA — State health officials confirmed six more deaths from COVID-19 in Washington Saturday, along with 366 new coronavirus cases, bringing the state's total number of cases past 15,000.

There have now been 15,003 confirmed cases and 830 deaths since the outbreak began in Washington in January. Initially the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, Washington now ranks 18th among states by number of total cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. (New York is first, with more than 312,000 cases as of Saturday afternoon.)

Washington's testing positivity rate is 7.2%, among 207,315 residents tested since January.

Catch up on the latest developments:

More than 100 state parks are reopening May 5

More than 100 Washington State Parks that had been closed off due to the coronavirus outbreak will reopen Tuesday, May 5, after Gov. Jay Inslee eased limits on outdoor recreation this week.

The full list of parks that will reopen is available on the State Parks website. The parks are reopening for day use only, with camping remaining off-limits until the state reaches Phase 2 of Inslee's reopening plan.

Permitted activities include hiking, hunting, fishing and golf, provided visitors avoid groups and adhere to social distancing practices.

All ocean beach parks and parks along the Columbia River Gorge remain closed, as Parks officials work with local communities to determine when they will be reopened, the agency said Saturday.

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Yakima County has West Coast's highest coronavirus rate

While King County has been described as the epicenter of Washington's coronavirus outbreak, the state's highest rate of coronavirus cases is in Yakima County, an agricultural giant that has more than double the state average of cases.

In fact, the county of 250,000 people has the highest rate of COVID-19 cases of any county on the West Coast, the Associated Press reports. Health experts point to a large number of essential workers, a large number of cases in long-term care facilities and a large agricultural workforce living and working in close quarters as the causes.

"We just haven't been as much down as the rest of the state because our workforce is going to work,″ said Lilian Bravo, a spokeswoman for the Yakima Health District.

"Physically going to work every day is going to put you at a higher risk than others,″ Bravo said.

Coronavirus disproportionately infects some King County residents

Meanwhile, in King County, data shows that Hispanic, Pacific Islander and black residents are being disproportionately sickened by COVID-19. Hispanic residents are more than twice as likely to die from the disease as whites, public health officials said Friday.

The county's top health officer, Dr. Jeff Duchin, said the data echo findings from other parts of the country that minorities are being hit harder by the novel coronavirus, the Associated Press reports. It reflects long-standing discrepancies with housing, work, language barriers, access to healthcare and environmental problems that can lead to worse health outcomes for minorities, he said.

"No one should be surprised we're seeing these disparities in COVID-19 disease," Duchin told a media briefing. "It's been an ongoing national tragedy and a shame that we have had communities of color throughout our country suffering disproportionate adverse health impact from a wide variety of health conditions."

"This has been widely recognized and tolerated for such a long time," he said.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases by county (from the Washington Department of Health*)

Total confirmed cases: 15,003 (830 deaths)

King: 6,351 cases (457 deaths)
Snohomish: 2,493 cases (109 deaths)
Pierce: 1,376 cases (50 deaths)
Yakima: 1,272 cases (47 deaths)
Benton: 494 cases (43 deaths)
Spokane: 366 cases (22 deaths)
Skagit: 345 cases (13 deaths)
Clark: 328 cases (19 deaths)
Whatcom: 312 cases (28 deaths)
Franklin: 348 cases (10 deaths)
Island: 169 cases (9 deaths)
Grant: 169 cases (3 deaths)
Kitsap: 150 cases (2 deaths)
Chelan: 114 cases (5 deaths)
Thurston: 111 cases (1 death)
Douglas: 82 cases (1 death)
Walla Walla: 87 cases
Adams: 48 cases
Cowlitz: 53 cases
Lewis: 29 cases (3 deaths)
Jefferson: 28 cases
Mason: 25 cases (1 death)
Okanogan: 21 cases (1 death)
Clallam: 18 cases
Asotin: 18 cases (2 deaths)
Klickitat: 17 cases (3 deaths)
Kittitas: 15 cases
San Juan: 14 cases
Whitman: 14 cases
Grays Harbor: 12 cases
Stevens: 9 cases (1 death)
Pacific: 4 cases
Skamania: 3 cases
Lincoln: 2 cases
Pend Oreille: 2 cases
Wahkiakum: 2 cases
Columbia: 1 case
Ferry: 1 case

100 cases remain unassigned to individual counties. The state is still determining how to sort the hundreds of cases with no definite origin.

*Some numbers differ from the totals provided separately by county health agencies.