Washington Coronavirus Updates: 7 Deaths, 642 More Cases

SEATTLE — The Washington State Department of Health's latest update Friday afternoon added 642 new laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases and 7 deaths, for a total of 92,560 infected and 2,190 dead due to the pandemic thus far.

The bulk of new cases were reported in King, Pierce and Spokane counties. Deaths Friday were reported in King, Lewis, Pierce, Snohomish, and Spokane counties.

The new numbers mean that, across the state, 84.6 out of every 100,000 Washingtonians have tested positive for the virus over the past two weeks, up from the mid 70s last week, as some counties have seen an increase in cases since Labor Day. The state still has a long way to meet its goal of getting that rate to under 25 per 100,000 over two weeks.

Catch up on the latest developments:

Trump reverses course, considers $1.8 trillion stimulus offer

On Tuesday President Trump took to Twitter to officially end all stimulus talks until after the election, a move that baffled most political analysts, tanked the stock market and earned the president a good deal of scorn from states counting on federal aid.

But, as the New York Times reports, Friday the White House reversed course, and is now offering democrats a proposed $1.8 trillion stimulus package— almost double the original offer the Trump administration had floated back when talks began.

Democrats have responded, and say they will likely hold out for more concessions but hope to have a stimulus deal soon.

Read the full report from the New York Times

Pierce County sees a rise in cases, threatening to push schools back

Over the past few weeks, several districts across Pierce County have reversed plans to reopen classrooms to select students amid a wave of new cases. Now, the health county says they may have to mandate that the remaining districts close their classrooms indefinitely.

Wednesday, the county passed a worrying threshold: reporting 75.6 new coronavirus infections per every 100,000 residents over the past two weeks. That's just over the cutoff rate of 75 cases, pushing Pierce County from a "moderate risk" county to a "high risk" county under state guidance.

The county's top health official says the county will be closely monitoring case counts, and if they remain high the health department will be asking schools to cancel almost all in-person activities. Pierce County Director of Health Anthony L-T Chen says, based on past surges, that probably will happen.

"Now that we have crossed into the high level in the state decision tree, we will watch to see if the rate is going to stay in that range for a sustained period," writes Chen. "Our analysis shows it likely will."

If high coronavirus case counts persist, schools will be asked to return to remote learning on October 26.

Read more: Pierce County Health: Schools Should Prepare For Remote Learning

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.