Health officials in Washington are warning that the coronavirus is spreading more widely throughout the state, an increase likely driven by transmissions that took place …
Health officials in Washington are warning that the coronavirus is spreading more widely throughout the state, an increase likely driven by transmissions that took place over Memorial Day Weekend.
In a report issued Saturday, the state Department of Health pointed to two distinct hotspots, both of which are showing worrying signs of increased spreading.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases are rising fastest in four counties east of the Cascade Mountains, mostly rural and agricultural areas that were spared from the first substantial outbreak in Washington.
Both cases and the rate at which tests are coming back positive are increasing in Yakima, Spokane, Franklin and Benton counties. Projections in three of those counties show they are at risk of recording hundreds of new cases a day by the end of the month; Yakima County is already recording cases at that rapid rate.
The outbreaks east of the Cascades are now comparable to the worst days of the coronavirus epidemic in King County, home to Seattle, in mid-March. Though they are much more sparsely populated, there are as many cases per capita now in the eastern counties as there were in Seattle during the height of its outbreak.
King County has a population 2.25 million and has recorded 8,611 coronavirus cases, according to state Health Department figures, or a little under four cases per 1,000 residents.
