Coronavirus Cases Surpass 20,000 In Washington; 1,070 Deaths
SEATTLE, WA — State health officials confirmed 237 new coronavirus cases in Washington on Monday, as well as nine additional deaths linked to COVID-19.
The state has now confirmed 20,065 coronavirus cases since the outbreak began three months ago. At least 1,070 people have died after contracting the virus.
Monday's update included 146 new coronavirus cases in Yakima County, which now ranks second in the state behind King County for most total cases. Yakima County's outbreak, which has worsened in recent weeks, has sickened many blue-collar workers, including dozens in a meat packing plant and workers in the fruit industry.
The state has tested 330,598 people for the coronavirus, with 6.1% testing positive.
Catch up on other recent developments:
UW Medicine furloughs 4,000 more workers
UW Medicine will temporarily furlough an additional 4,000 unionized workers on top of the 1,500 nonunion staff furloughed last week, the health care system announced Monday, saying the cuts were necessary to cover $500 million in expected losses due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Monday's announcement followed bargaining with unions representing the workers, UW Medicine said in a statement. Affected workers, some of whom volunteered to be furloughed, will be out of work from one to eight weeks.
The cuts are likely to affect UW Medicine workers who were among the nation's first on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis, which hit Washington in the spring before spreading to every state. UW Medicine did not specify which positions are affected.
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Washington colleges prepare for big budget cuts
Washington's public colleges and universities are preparing for large budget cuts because of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, the Associated Press reported.
The state is expected to cut funding for higher education, and universities lost hundreds of millions this spring in housing fees, meal plans and sports tickets when they were forced to close their campuses.
When, or if, students do return to campus, life will likely be very different, with online lectures and dorm rooms that maintain social distancing, the AP reports.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases by county (from the Washington Department of Health*)
Total confirmed cases: 20,065 (1,070 deaths)
King: 7,826 cases (550 deaths)
Yakima: 2,958 cases (91 deaths)
Snohomish: 2,904 cases (136 deaths)
Pierce: 1,762 cases (71 deaths)
Benton: 704 cases (59 deaths)
Franklin: 503 cases (19 deaths)
Spokane: 494 cases (31 deaths)
Skagit: 426 cases (15 deaths)
Clark: 412 cases (22 deaths)
Whatcom: 369 cases (36 deaths)
Chelan: 231 cases (6 deaths)
Grant: 190 cases (4 deaths)
Island: 177 cases (10 deaths)
Kitsap: 161 cases (2 deaths)
Douglas: 157 cases (3 deaths)
Thurston: 129 cases (1 death)
Walla Walla: 108 cases (2 deaths)
Kittitas: 75 cases
Cowlitz: 73 cases
Adams: 53 cases
Okanogan: 44 cases (1 death)
Lewis: 35 cases (3 deaths)
Mason: 34 cases (1 death)
Jefferson: 30 cases
Clallam: 25 cases
Klickitat: 24 cases (3 deaths)
Asotin: 19 cases (2 deaths)
Grays Harbor: 16 cases
Whitman: 16 cases
San Juan: 15 cases
Stevens: 10 cases (1 death)
Pacific: 9 cases (1 death)
Wahkiakum: 4 cases
Skamania: 3 cases
Pend Oreille: 3 cases
Lincoln: 2 cases
Columbia: 1 case
Ferry: 1 case
62 cases remain unassigned to individual counties. The state is still determining how to sort the hundreds of cases with no definite origin.
*Some numbers differ from the totals provided separately by county health agencies.
This article originally appeared on the Seattle Patch
