Washington Reports 16 Deaths, 304 Confirmed Coronavirus Cases

SEATTLE — The Washington State Department of Health confirmed 16 deaths and 304 more lab-confirmed coronavirus cases on Tuesday.

That's a larger one-day death toll that Washington has seen in several weeks, but it is potentially misleading: the state recently stopped reporting the number of new deaths on Saturdays and Sundays, with those deaths now being added to Monday and Tuesday's reports. It's still unclear exactly why the change was made, but likely means that at least some of the new deaths from the latest report actually happened days ago.

Deaths Tuesday were reported in Clark, Franklin, King, Pierce, Spokane, Thurston and Yakima counties.

The latest update means that 74,939 total coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Washington since the pandemic began, and 1931 people have died.

A total of 1,480,039 coronavirus tests have been performed in the evergreen state, meaning around 2.6 percent of tests come back positive.

Inslee announces $190 million to help local governments

The governor has announced nearly $190 million of the state's federal stimulus funding will be given to local governments that did not previously directly receive funds from the CARES Act.

Of that money, roughly $126 million will be given to city and county governments, with each county receiving a minimum of $300,000 and cities receiving at least $30,000 each. The remaining $62 million will go to local health jurisdictions.

“Our local public health jurisdictions, cities and counties have worked tirelessly since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 appeared in Washington to protect their communities,” Inslee said. “This much needed infusion of funds will help sustain their efforts to stop the spread of this virus.”

CARES Act funds were only directly distributed to counties and cities with populations of over 500,000. The state says this money will hopefully fill in the gap for many smaller communities across Washington.

“Counties continue to deliver the critical services needed to combat COVID-19 while also providing support to local businesses and our most vulnerable populations,” said Kitsap County commissioner Robert Gelder. “The release of additional dollars from the Coronavirus Relief Fund comes at a crucial time as we prepare for the cold and flu season.”

Federal waiver allows for free student meals

It's going to be a tough fall for struggling families across Washington who rely on the state's public school system to help support their children. While classrooms may be closed and many parents left on their own to find child care solutions, there is good news on the food front: a last-minute decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture will extend several waivers, meaning students in need will be able to continue receiving school meals at no cost.

"This pandemic requires our education system to be flexible and innovative in order to respond to student needs," said State Superintendent Chris Reykdal. "I'm grateful to the advocates across the state who pushed for these waiver extensions with us. Washingtonians are working hard together to ensure our most vulnerable students and families have the food they need."

Reykdal's office says the waivers extend the Summer Food Service Program, allowing children aged 0 - 18 to receive breakfast and lunch at no cost through the end of 2020, though how the meals will be distributed will vary depending on the district.

Now that the school meal program is funded through the end of 2020, Reykdal says Washington's next move will be to push the USDA and Congress to extend the funding through the full school year.

Read more: Washington Students Can Receive Free Meals This Fall

Teams to help boost testing in central Washington

Testing is one of the key metrics the state uses to see how well each county is containing the pandemic, and now the state is moving to help several central Washington counties boost their testing capabilities.

The state DOH says two teams with Medical Teams International, a Seattle non-profit, have been deployed to help support community testing efforts in Benton, Franklin and Yakima counties. The teams help by providing mobile clinics which can quickly move to businesses or neighborhoods experiencing a coronavirus outbreak. As of their last report, the state says these teams are averaging as much as 600 coronavirus tests each day.

"We are so grateful for the work being done by Medical Teams International, especially in parts of the state that need the most help," said Dr. Charissa Fotinos, deputy director of the Washington State Health Care Authority. "MTI has been and will continue to be helpful in providing an initial surge in testing while longer-term, sustainable community resources can be identified for ongoing testing."

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.