COVID-19 updates: First doses of COVID vaccine in Washington could be given Tuesday

The state Department of Health says there have been over 202,000 coronavirus cases in Washington state, and 2,879 people have died from the virus statewide. Check below for more updates.

Confirmed coronavirus cases across Washington state

Sunday, Dec. 13

4:18pm – There have been 202,063 confirmed cases and 2,879 deaths statewide, as reported by the Washington State Department of Health. The state DOH does not update the death count on weekends.

12:10pm – The first COVID-19 vaccine has been given initial authorization by the FDA and is now being shipped to states across the country. Gov. Inslee announced Sunday that the vaccine has also been authorized by the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup, which means vaccination can begin in Washington. The first doses could be given as soon as Tuesday. Read more.

10:58am– If you’re looking for a fun and socially-distanced holiday activity this weekend, look no further than Bellevue’s modified Snowflake Lane. Read more.

8:07am – The first free, high-volume COVID testing center on the Eastside will open Tuesday at Bellevue College. The site will be run by International Community Health Services, King County, and the City of Bellevue, hosted by the college. Drive-through and limited walk-up testing will be available.

You are strongly encouraged to make a reservation ahead of time via King County’s website here to expedite the process. King County recently opened another new test site in Enumclaw.

7:32am – Another cancellation from COVID-19 came down at the last second Saturday for the football game between Washington State University and California. It was called a “no-contest” just 90 minutes before kickoff after one Cal player tested positive for the virus. Due to contact tracing protocol, the game had to be canceled.

Saturday, Dec. 12

5:14pm – The Washington State Department of Health is reporting 199,735 confirmed cases with 2,879 deaths. The DOH does not update the death total on weekends.

3:36pm – The nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine will begin arriving in states Monday morning, U.S. officials said Saturday, after the government gave the final go-ahead to the shots needed to end an outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans.

Trucks will roll out Sunday morning as shipping companies UPS and FedEx begin delivering Pfizer’s vaccine to nearly 150 distribution centers across the states, said Army Gen. Gustave Perna of Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s vaccine development program. An additional 425 sites will get shipments Tuesday, and the remaining 66 on Wednesday. Read more from the AP.

8:11am – UW Medicine is seeing a surge of COVID-19 patients, with more hospitalized patients as of Friday, Dec. 11, than during the peak surge in the spring.

Lisa Brandenberg, president of UW Medicine Hospitals and Clinics, urges people to continue to wear masks, stay 6 feet apart, and wash their hands.

“It’s critically important that we recommit to these things while we get through distribution of a vaccine, and in a few months we could be turning the corner on this pandemic,” she said in a release from UW Medicine. “It’s important. It’s a matter of life and death.”

Friday, Dec. 11

5:37pm – The COVID crisis has seen a sizable uptick in litter across Seattle. Now, the city hopes to ramp up efforts to clean litter and graffiti with an additional $3 million in funding. Read more. 

4:21pm – The Department of Health is now reporting 195,554 total COVID-19 cases in Washington since the start of the pandemic, along with 2,879 deaths. The state says there have been 12,237 hospitalizations, with a 1.5% rate of death among those who test positive for the virus.

2:52pm – With remote learning continuing for students across Washington state, Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal is hoping schools will be able to bring kids back into classrooms sooner rather than later.

“I want grades open — particularly early grades —  and we’re pushing hard for that,” he told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson. “I think early grades are very safe to bring back on balance.” Read more.

1:28pm – The Washington State Department of Health revealed Thursday that it expects to receive over 470,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of December. Read more.

12:05pm – Health care workers in Washington are already facing staffing shortages due to the COVID-19 crisis. Now, the state’s firefighters are worried about the same problem. Read more.

9:14am –  Just when the U.S. appears on the verge of rolling out a COVID-19 vaccine, the numbers have become gloomier than ever: over 3,000 American deaths in a single day, more than on D-Day or 9/11; one million new cases in the span of five days; and more than 106,000 people in the hospital. Read more from the AP.

7:42am – Contact tracing has connected additional COVID-19 cases and possible deaths to a 300-person wedding near the Adams-Grant County line in November, with the Grant County Health District reporting Thursday evening it has linked 47 cases in its county to wedding attendees. Of those cases, two people were staff members at Lake Ridge Center, a nursing home in Moses Lake. Since the wedding, 65 COVID-19 cases have been reported at Lake Ridge and 15 residents have died.

Grant County found 14 additional cases in people with a family member who attended the wedding or had a social gathering with someone who went to the wedding. Seven cases in Adams County and five in the Tri-Cities area stemming from the wedding have also been reported. Read more from the AP.

6:06am – Saturday’s scheduled game between the UW Huskies and Oregon Ducks in Eugene, Ore., has been canceled due to Washington not having enough available players on scholarship as a result of a spread of COVID-19 on the team. The game has been declared a “no contest.”

The UW currently leads the PAC-12 North Division with a 3-1 record, and the game against 3-2 Oregon would have settled the division title. The question now is if the Huskies will be healthy enough to play in the conference title game on Dec. 18. Read more from 710 ESPN Seattle.

Thursday, Dec. 10

4:47pm – Health officials say there have been 192,413 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Washington state, and 2,850 deaths. The state says there have been 12,084 hospitalizations since the outbreak began. The state says it has tested 3,256,838 people.

Note from Washington Department of Health on Dec. 10 case numbers: “Today’s total case counts may include up to 300 duplicates. Negative test results data from November 21, 2020 through today are incomplete, as are positive test results from November 30 – December 6, 2020, thus testing numbers should be interpreted with caution. The COVID-19 Disease Activity tab is the most accurate representation of COVID activity and is updated daily as new cases are identified and duplicates are resolved.”

2:57pm – An FDA advisory committee voted Wednesday, ruling that the benefits of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine outweigh the potential risks for teens. This could potentially see the FDA issuing an emergency authorizations as soon as Friday.

1:04pm – While plans for a potential high-speed rail connecting Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia are still far off, Gov. Jay Inslee believes that it could be a means for economic relief in a post-COVID world. Read more. 

11:48am – Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine faces one final hurdle as it races to become the first shot greenlighted in the U.S.: a panel of experts who will scrutinize the company’s data for any red flags.

Thursday’s meeting of the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory panel is likely the last step before a U.S. decision to begin shipping millions of doses of the shot, which has shown strong protection against the coronavirus. Read more from the AP.

9:34am – The Associated Press reports that more than 700 prisoners at the Airway Heights Corrections Center near Spokane have COVID-19. The Department of Corrections reported 740 cases Wednesday among the approximately 1,900 inmates at the prison. The Spokesman-Review reported that last week the prison had just seven cases.

7:52am – The number of people applying for unemployment aid in the United States jumped last week to 853,000, the most since September, evidence that companies are cutting more jobs as new virus cases spiral higher. Read more from the AP.

5:46am – State health officials are urging people to find creative ways to celebrate safely this holiday season. Lacy Fahrenbach, deputy secretary for the state’s COVID response, suggests a holiday movie watch party with your household, driving around your neighborhood to look at holiday lights, “mailing cards or letters to loved ones, reaching out and dropping off gifts or treats to family and friends, opting outside for activities like hiking, sledding, or snowshoeing.”

Even with the vaccine on its way, most people won’t have access to it for months. Doctors and health officials warn that infection rates are still dangerously high, and we need to continue precautions to limit the spread of COVID-19. The Washington State Department of Health released tips for safe winter gatherings and holidays, including a list of low-risk activities.

Wednesday, Dec. 9

4:51pm – The Washington Department of Health is now reporting 189,863 total COVID-19 cases statewide since the start of the pandemic, along with 3,016 deaths. The DOH also reports 11,996 total hospitalizations, as well as a 1.6% death rate among those who have tested positive for the virus.

3:45pm – The Washington Department of Health announced the expansion of a new program Wednesday, providing assistance to people who have either tested positive for COVID-19 or need to isolate at home after being exposed to the virus. Read more.

2:03pm – With a proposal to dissolve the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s city-county partnership making progress toward passing, a hotly-contested debate has emerged among local leaders. Read more.

12:22pm – Public Health — Seattle & King County reports that an analysis, which looked at 19 peer-reviewed studies, found that people who smoked were nearly two times more likely to have negative outcomes from COVID-19. The CDC also determined that current and former smokers are at an increased risk for severe disease. Read more from the Public Health Insider blog.

11:48am – With more and more people choosing to stay home for the holidays this year due to the pandemic, Northwest post offices are noticing an uptick in package volume. Read more.

10:55am – T-Mobile is giving kids the chance to visit Santa virtually this year. To help spread holiday cheer, the Bellevue-based company is launching santacalling.com starting Thursday where you can schedule a free live video chat with Saint Nick. After the chat, you can get a copy of the video to share with friends and family.

8:14am – The UW football team has paused all team-related activities following “an increase in positive COVID-19 tests within the program,” a team spokesperson told The Daily of the University of Washington. The status of Saturday’s game against Oregon is not yet known.

7:19am – U.K. regulators said Wednesday that people who have a “significant history” of allergic reactions shouldn’t receive the new Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine while they investigate two adverse reactions that occurred on the first day of the country’s mass vaccination program. Read more from the AP.

5:26am – The state Department of Health says it expects to receive almost 400,000 doses of COVID vaccine this month, with about 219,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 182,000 from Moderna once approved by the FDA. The FDA is expected to give emergency authorization to use the Pfizer vaccine this week, and it will then immediately be shipped out. The first doses will go to front-line health care workers.

Michael Alwan, director of pharmacy at UW Medicine, tells KIRO 7 TV that vaccine storage has presented a number of challenges. The University of Washington has special freezers at each of its hospitals that will keep the Pfizer vaccine at the necessary minus-80 degrees Fahrenheit. The vaccine will arrive in dry ice and will have to immediately go into the freezers.

Tuesday, Dec. 8

5:06pm – The U.S. Navy Blue Angels announced on Tuesday that they will return to the skies above Lake Washington as the featured performer during the Seafair Air Show this summer. Read more.

4:09pm – The Washington Department of Health is reporting 187,327 total COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, along with 2,967 deaths. There have been 11,841 total hospitalizations, with a 1.6% death rate among those who tested positive for the virus.

3:10pm – UW physician Dr. Vin Gupta spoke to CNBC Tuesday, pushing for the U.S. to deploy all available resources to deal with the rise in COVID cases seen across the country.

“Doctors in the reserves, U.S. Air Force Reserves, we haven’t leveraged all of our capabilities, we should be deploying those resources — military, national guard, you name it, disaster credentials for anybody who’s trained appropriately in ICU medicine,” Dr. Gupta said. “We need all hands on deck here.”

1:21pm – After announcing a three-week extension of statewide limits on indoor dining and gatherings, Gov. Jay Inslee warned that restaurants in violation of those restrictions will face steep penalties. Read more.

11:38am – Governor Inslee has extended the current statewide COVID-19 restrictions that ban indoor dining, indoor gatherings, and limit capacity at retail establishments until Jan. 4, 2021. Read more.

9:45am – Health care staff at the downtown Seattle jail are confirming 16 cases of COVID-19 after an inmate reported flu-like symptoms this weekend. Everyone housed in the same part of the jail was tested, despite being asymptomatic. Out of 69 people, an additional 15 tested positive.

Inmates with positive tests are now in medical isolation at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, and the remaining inmates are in quarantine housing at the King County Correctional Facility.

8:04am – As the holidays draw near and more people opt to exchange gifts by mail, post offices are seeing an uptick in customers. Ernie Swanson, local USPS communications specialist, told KIRO Radio that lines to mail packages can be out the door at some locations. He says parcel volume has been up throughout the pandemic, and is only expected to increase the further we get into December.

To avoid the crowds, Swanson recommends going to the post office first thing in the morning or right before closing, and having your package ready to go. You can also pay your postage online at USPS.com, print a label, and have your mail carrier pick up your package.

5:50am – A retired British shop clerk received the first shot in the United Kingdom’s COVID-19 vaccination program Tuesday, signaling the start of a global immunization effort intended to offer a route out of the pandemic that has killed 1.5 million. Read more from the AP.

Monday, Dec. 7

5:37pm – Snohomish County is reporting that the region is seeing triple the rate of COVID cases it saw at the peak of the first wave early in the spring, with roughly 428 cases per 100,000 residents.

That being so, local health officials are urging people to “stick with preventive efforts,” and continue to wear a mask in public, wash hands, and maintain six feet of distance.

4:01pm – King County Public Health Officer Dr. Jeff Duchin provided insight last week, on some of the obstacles the county might face when distributing an eventual COVID-19 vaccine. You can watch the full video from Dr. Duchin here.

1:44pm – We are just days away now from the FDA considering the emergency use of two COVID-19 vaccines. How will they work and do hospitals and clinics have the resources to store them and then administer them? Mercer Island MD Dr. Gordon Cohen joined Seattle’s Morning News to discuss. Read more.

11:08am – According to a new study, 70% of all movie theaters in the United States could go out of business in 2021. But local theater owners are hopeful that once the pandemic is over, people will want to see films again on the big screen.

Aaron Alhadeff, owner of Majestic Bay Theatres in Ballard, told KIRO 7 TV he’s confident people will want to return to the cinema, and that it’s his job to figure out how to entice customers back. He says the key to survival may be added perks, like dinner service, specialized seating, or anything customers can’t get at home through streaming services.

10:31am – Costco will continue to offer special shopping hours for people most vulnerable to COVID-19, including people 60 and older and those with disabilities or who are immuno-compromised. The hours run from 9-10 a.m. on weekdays at most Costco stores.

8:57am – As a result of rail operator staffing shortages due to numerous factors relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sound Transit will be reducing Link light rail service starting Monday. Operator shortages were also a challenge when COVID rates spiked in March.

The agency says peak hour weekday trains will now run every 12 minutes, but service during other periods will remain unchanged. ST Express and Sounder service is not affected at this time.

7:40am – Health officials in Grant County say seven deaths of residents at nursing homes could be linked to a wedding held near Ritzville last month, which drew about 300 people. Among the guests were several staff members at long-term care facilities.

6:14am – With a COVID-19 vaccine perhaps just days away in the United States, most of California headed into another lockdown Sunday because of the surging outbreak and top health officials warned Americans that this is no time to let their guard down.

“The vaccine’s critical,” Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “But it’s not going to save us from this current surge. Only we can save us from this current surge.” Read more from the AP.

5:22am – The City of Seattle opened two walk-up COVID-19 testing kiosks over the weekend, located at community centers in the Central District and Northgate neighborhoods. Users will be asked to do a self-collected oral swab with directions from a staff member. The testing is free, but requires pre-registration online at curative.com.

Find a list of all free COVID-19 testing sites in King County here.

Check updates from last week. 

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