Health Officials Reports 597 More Coronavirus Cases Saturday

SEATTLE — The Washington State Department of Health reported 597 more confirmed coronavirus cases Saturday. No deaths were reported as the state no longer updates the death toll over weekends.

The 597 new cases represent a significant jump over recent reports, which have been under 500 daily cases for over a month. The increase could be explained by the recent Labor Day weekend— past holidays have resulted in spike in new coronavirus cases, each happening roughly two weeks in the holiday in question — but health officials say it's too early right now to confirm if that is happening again.

"We’ve seen an increase in confirmed cases over the past 2 days," writes the Tacoma - Pierce County Health Department. "It is too early to tell if this is because of Labor Day weekend gatherings, or if it will continue into the coming weeks. We’re watching closely and will provide more information by the middle of next week."

As of the latest report from the Washington state Department of Health, a total of 82,199 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in laboratories and 2,037 people have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

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.