Washington Reports 2,467 New Coronavirus Cases, 167 Hospitalized

WASHINGTON — The Washington State Department of Health reported 2,467 new confirmed coronavirus cases Saturday, for a total of 160,634 infections in the evergreen state since the pandemic began.

That's not the record for daily case counts, but it is the continuation of a record-breaking surge in coronavirus transmissions. As the DOH's COVID-19 Dashboard shows, on Nov. 16, the rolling 7-day average was 2,159 coronavirus infections per day. That average has likely risen in the weeks since, but state confirmations of the rolling 7-day average typically lag for a few weeks to make sure that data is not incomplete, so the current average is unknown.

To put the 2,159 case average in perspective, the highest 7 day rolling average before this surge came during the second wave of cases in summer, when it hit 810 infections per day in late July.

Joining the 2,467 new infections in Saturday's report were 167 more reports of hospitalizations due to COVID-19. A surge in hospitalizations typically lags behind a surge in new infections by a few weeks, and that appears to be holding true here: the latest data predicts that the 7 day rolling average may have grown as high as 87 hospitalizations per day last week, comparable to the largest batch of hospitalizations in late March.

In the days and weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, health officials and state leaders alike urged Washingtonians not to travel, in the hopes of avoiding another post-holiday surge of infections like the state saw in the weeks following Memorial Day or the Fourth of July. Now that Thanksgiving is over and what's done is done, experts will be eagerly watching the data for any such surges, and preparing to act accordingly if one arrives. Some hospitals, predicting a further spike in hospitalizations, have even postponed elective surgeries to make room for COVID-19 patients.

While the state waits for the numbers to shake out, health officials continue to ask everyone who is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms to get tested immediately.