632 New Coronavirus Cases In Washington; 4 New Deaths

SEATTLE, WA — State health officials announced 632 newly confirmed coronavirus cases on Sunday, as well as four new deaths linked to COVID-19.

Washington has now confirmed 58,173 cases of COVID-19, including at least 1,596 people who have died.

The state has tested at least 1,008,280 people for the virus, with about 5.8 percent of tests coming back positive.

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Young people see rise in coronavirus cases

People in their twenties and thirties are seeing increasing rates of coronavirus infections, Lisa Brandenburg, president of UW Medicine Hospitals and Clinics, said in a video released Friday.

"Even if they are not as worried about getting particularly sick, it's incredibly important that they continue to wear masks, observe social distancing and wash their hands," Brandenburg said.

The trend has been observed for weeks in Washington during the state's recent coronavirus surge. A large majority of new cases in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties were among people under 40, according to a July 9 state report.

Washington's vote-by-mail system stands out amid pandemic

Washington state, whose universal vote-by-mail system has been in place since 2011, has emerged as something of a pioneer, as other states look to implement similar systems to avoid holding in-person voting during the pandemic.

Five states currently have vote-by-mail laws on the books, and others may attempt to institute it before this fall's general election, although the logistics may be difficult, the Seattle Times reported.

Those logistics have been further complicated by President Donald Trump's repeated false claims about voting by mail, and fears that he may hamper mail-in voting by crippling the U.S. Postal Service, which is suffering delays due to new Trump administration policies.

Read more at the Seattle Times.

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 Seattle Patch