Washington Coronavirus Deaths Surpass 1,400; 640 New Cases

SEATTLE, WA — The state Department of Health reported 640 new coronavirus cases Thursday afternoon, and 15 more deaths were linked to COVID-19 in Washington.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's case tracker, more than 4,506 new illnesses were confirmed in Washington over the last seven days, with a case rate of 503 per 100,000 residents.

A surge in COVID-19 across much of the United States this week broke daily case records at least five times in nine days. The nation surpassed 3 million confirmed illnesses on Wednesday.

Per the latest state data, at least 38,581 people have tested positive for the virus in Washington since the crisis began, and 1,409 people have died. More than 660,000 Washingtonians have been tested for the coronavirus, with 5.8 percent testing positive overall.

Catch up on the latest developments:

Employment Security Department says backlog in claims will be cleared by end of July

The Employment Security Department plans to clear a backlog of more than 35,000 people who are still awaiting a decision on their unemployment claims, officials announced Thursday.

Suzi LeVine, the department's commissioner, said the agency has made progress — down from 81,000 unresolved claims last month — and has resolved more than 200,000 outstanding claims.

The state delayed payments in May, adding extra verification steps after hundreds of millions were paid out to fraudsters. The Associated Press reports the state has recovered at least $360 million in stolen relief funds.

More than 1.2 million Washingtonians have filed jobless claims since widespread job losses began in early March amid a growing coronavirus pandemic. According to the state's latest data, the number of new claims filed last week dropped by 11 percent.

Read more: Unemployment Claims Backlog To Be Resolved By End Of July: ESD

Inslee: 'I will not send our kids and educators back if it is unsafe to do so'

Gov. Jay Inslee called a news conference Thursday in response to recent remarks from President Donald Trump, threatening to cut federal funding if schools opt to stay closed in the fall.

"This is an individual who has a modus operandi of threatening things to try and intimidate people, and it's never worked for us, and it's not going to work on us," Inslee said.

The governor called the President's remarks a distraction from his "failed leadership on COVID," and reiterated that health and safety will remain the state's top priorities for reopening.

Washington schools are planning to resume some degree of face-to-face learning in the fall, but the state shared guidance last month asking each to develop backup plans for instruction in case.

The University of Washington will hold a virtual town hall Friday, July 10, to discuss back-to-school plans. UW previously announced a "hybrid" model, where in-person instruction will be prioritized for smaller classes that can utilize larger rooms and those which require physical learning, like lab work.

Read more: Inslee: We Will Not Be Bullied Into Unsafely Reopening Schools

Pause on reopenings could extend if case counts continue to build

If Washington continues its current trend of increased coronavirus activity, it is likely the state will extend a pause on reopening phases put in place last week. John Wiesman, the state's secretary of health, told reporters Wednesday officials will have to consider more severe actions, including rolling counties backward, if numbers continue on a troubling trajectory.

"The rates are going up in most counties in the state and that is not where we want to be," Wiesman said. "And if they continue to go up, moving out of this pause of phase really doesn't seem very likely."

Right now, 17 counties remain in Phase 2 of the Safe Start plan, and an equal number are in Phase 3. Five counties are in a modified Phase 1, and no counties have reached the state's final reopening phase.

Read more: Reopenings May Stay Paused If Coronavirus Counts Increase

Coronavirus cases 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.

This article originally appeared on the Seattle Patch