Washington Reports 11 Deaths, 509 More Coronavirus Cases

SEATTLE — Experts with the Washington State Department of Health reported 11 more coronavirus fatalities, and 509 more confirmed infections of the virus Wednesday.

That's a higher number of deaths and confirmed daily case counts than the state has seen recently. Some health experts say the slight rise in cases could be linked to the recent Labor Day holiday, but are continuing to monitor the situation to confirm and to see if the recent uptick in cases will continue.

Deaths Wednesday were reported in Adams, Benton, Franklin, King, Pierce, and Spokane counties.

The new numbers mean that a total of 2,081 Washingtonians have been killed by the coronavirus pandemic, and a total of 83,702 cases of the virus have been confirmed in the evergreen state.

The latest update comes after problems with the state's data reporting system caused the DOH to redact an earlier update Monday. Though some issues have been fixed and all deaths and coronavirus cases during the blackout have been updated, issues remain updating the number of negative laboratory test results. As a result, the state did not report the total number of coronavirus tests Wednesday. They expect to have the issue fixed by Thursday.

Catch up on the latest developments:

Washington marks six months since stay-at-home order

As of Wednesday, Washington has been in some form of pandemic lockdown or another for six whole months. Gov. Jay Inslee took some time Wednesday to mark the occasion over Twitter, consider his decision and the impact it has had over the last half year.

Surprise improvement in projected state revenues

There's no underselling the amount of economic turmoil the pandemic has put on Washington, and the United States at large, and while unemployment is still high and the economic future uncertain, lawmakers did receive one glimmer of hope.

Updated numbers show an increase in state revenues over the past several months, cutting earlier loss projections in half. According to the Associated Press, the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council in June predicted that Washington would lose about $9 billion in projected revenue by mid-2023. However, after recent economic improvements, a new projection increases revenues by $4.6 billion for the same time frame.

Economists say the improvement is due in part to a recent increase in consumer spending, as more Washingtonians feel comfortable shelling out for retail and food.

Read more from the Associated Press.

Total coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths by county:

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

This article originally appeared on the Bonney Lake-Sumner Patch