King County Adds 175 Coronavirus Cases; 11 More Dead

Lucas Combos
Updated ·3 min read

SEATTLE, WA — King County recorded another 175 cases of the new coronavirus Thursday and 11 additional deaths from complications linked to COVID-19, according to public health data. The state's most populous county has diagnosed 2,656 illnesses and 175 people have died since the first positive test result was reported on Feb. 28.

Thursday afternoon's numbers, which include new cases and deaths recorded by 11:59 p.m. the night prior, include 63 cases and 4 deaths in the City of Seattle.

King County strikes deal with three hotels to house the homeless

King County has secured agreements with three hotels in Bellevue, Renton and SeaTac to help provide shelter for 400 people experiencing homelessness and reduce the concentration in local shelters.

Public health officials said the hotels are not meant to be quarantine or isolation facilities, and the people who move in are presumed to be healthy. The hotels will not be open to other guests during the timeframe. According to public health, the county expects to begin moving people into the hotels by early next week.

  • The Sophia Way plans to move 100 people from a Bellevue shelter to Hotel 116.

  • Catholic Community Services plans to move 90 people from shelters in Kent, Federal Way and Renton to a SeaTac hotel on South 192nd Street.

  • Seattle's Downtown Emergency Center will move 200 people from its shelters to a Red Lion Hotel in Renton on South Grady Way.

The Seattle Times reports the city booked an entire hotel in downtown Seattle to house first responders and other city employees who may have been exposed to coronavirus and cannot isolate or quarantine at home. According to the newspaper, the city will spend about $2.8 million to retain the hotels 155 rooms for three months.

Inslee extends "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" order

Gov. Jay Inslee has extended his statewide stay-at-home order through at least May 4. The governor said his order could be extended futher, if necessary, but he hoped it would not be needed if everyone adhered to the mandate. A model produced by the University of Washington projects deaths related to the virus will peak between April 9 and April 16.

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Coronavirus cases in your Patch:

Seattle:
874 confirmed cases (10.9% positivity rate)
38 deaths (4.3% of cases)

Kirkland:
219 confirmed cases (23.8% positivity rate)
47 deaths (21.5% of cases)

Bellevue:
151 confirmed cases (14.4% positivity rate)
4 deaths (2.6% of cases)

Redmond:
138 confirmed cases (20.9% positivity rate)
22 deaths (15.9% of cases)

Renton:
150 confirmed cases (14% positivity rate)
6 deaths (4% of cases)

Mercer Island:
47 confirmed cases (19.3% positivity rate)
1 death (2.1% of cases)

Shoreline:
129 confirmed cases (16% positivity rate)
11 deaths (8.5% of cases)

Lake Forest Park:
16 confirmed cases (10.5% positivity rate)
1 death (6.3% of cases)

Woodinville:
48 confirmed cases (14.1% positivity rate)
4 deaths (8.3% of cases)

Issaquah:
95 confirmed cases (19.3% positivity rate)
15 deaths (15.8% of cases)

Sammamish:
45 confirmed cases (12.7% positivity rate)
0 deaths

Enumclaw:
19 confirmed cases (10.6% positivity rate)
1 death (5.3% of cases)

Total tested in King County: 19,939
Positive results: 2,656 (13.3% positivity rate)

View data on more King County cities, or sort results by zip code here.

This article originally appeared on the Seattle Patch