Washington Reports 11 Deaths, 386 More Coronavirus Infections

SEATTLE — Officials reported 11 more coronavirus-related deaths and 386 more confirmed cases of the disease Thursday.

Deaths Thursday were reported in Benton, Clark, King, Okanogan, Pierce, Spokane, and Yakima counties.

As of the latest report from the Washington state Department of Health, a total of 81,198 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in laboratories and 2,031 people have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

While death tolls and daily case counts have been trending downward over recent weeks, officials are taking some time to explore one of the pandemic's less-discussed side effects: the mental toll that the deaths, isolation, job losses, and economic anxiety are taking on Washingtonians.

Mental health experts say this month, after around six months of pandemic closures and lockdowns, many may find themselves feeling much lower than normal. That's a natural reaction, as the populace leaves the so-called "honeymoon phase" of a disaster, when feelings of camaraderie and community togetherness fade and give way to disillusionment and depression.

For those who need support, help is available. The Washington State Department of Health keeps an updated list of mental and behavioral health resources available on their website. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, you can call Crisis Connections at 866-427-4747 or by texting HOME to 741741. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is also available 24/7 and can be reached by calling 1-800-237-8255.

Detailing vaccine distribution

When a COVID-19 vaccine does become available, who should be the first to get it? That's one of the issues the state is considering as potential vaccines draw closer to distribution.

Right now, the CDC is considering five federal regions (four states and one city) for a vaccine pilot program. Washington is not among those states, but state officials say they'll be watching the pilot programs very closely to determine the most effective way to distribute a vaccine once it does become available.

Officials say at first, it likely will not be possible to vaccinate everyone who wants it, so the first round of vaccinations will go to priority groups, including essential workers, health care workers, and residents of long-term care facilities.

But mulling these decisions over will take time: the state has just received the federal playbook explaining how they'd like vaccines distributed, so the DOH will spend the next 30 days reviewing that, and hope to present their own distribution plan sometime in October.

King County celebrates success of contact tracing program

While a recent statewide analysis of contact tracing was not overly optimistic, King County says their program has largely been a success.

According to Public Health - Seattle & King County, just 60 of their investigators have been able to process roughly 500 new coronavirus cases each week.

Going forward the county will be releasing weekly data on their contact tracing program, which can be found on the new case investigation and contact tracing dashboard. The latest data shows that their teams have been able to interview about 85 percent of patients who have tested positive for the coronavirus, and contact 90 percent of their contacts each week. To put that in comparison, the recent statewide study found that for the week of August 30 to September 5, only 52 percent of statewide cases were contacted, and only 77 percent of contacts were interviewed.

Read more: King County's Contact Tracing Efforts See Mounting Success

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.