Washington state coronavirus death toll hits 40
Martha Bellisle | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 8 months AGO
Workers from a Servpro disaster recovery team wearing protective suits and respirators enter the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., to begin cleaning and disinfecting the facility, Wednesday, March 11, 2020, near Seattle. The nursing home is at the center of the coronavirus outbreak in Washington state. For most people, the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness, especially in older adults and people with existing health problems. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Gov. Jay Inslee, left, is joined by Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal as he discusses the expansion of school closures and prohibition of large gatherings across all of Washington in an effort to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, Friday, March 13, 2020. Inslee says he issued the executive orders because the virus is spreading rapidly across the state. Previously, school closures and prohibitions of large gatherings had only been ordered in the three counties with the highest numbers of cases. (AP Photo/Rachel La Corte)
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee talks to the media about his decision to expand school closures and prohibition of large gatherings across all of Washington in an effort to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, Friday, March 13, 2020. Inslee issued the executive orders, saying the virus is spreading rapidly across the state. Previously, school closures and prohibitions of large gatherings had only been ordered in the three counties with the highest numbers of cases. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness. (AP Photo/R…
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, left, is joined by Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal as he discusses the expansion of school closures and prohibition of large gatherings across all of Washington in an effort to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, Friday, March 13, 2020. Inslee issued the executive orders, saying the virus is spreading rapidly across the state. Previously, school closures and prohibitions of large gatherings had only been ordered in the three counties with the highest numbers of cases. (AP Photo/Rachel La Corte)
Gov. Jay Inslee walks to a podium to announce the expansion of school closures and prohibition of large gatherings across all of Washington in an effort to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, Friday, March 13, 2020. Inslee issued the executive orders, saying the virus is spreading rapidly across the state. Previously, school closures and prohibitions of large gatherings had only been ordered in the three counties with the highest numbers of cases. (AP Photo/Rachel La Corte)
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee speaks to the media after the Legislature adjourned its 60-day session, Thursday, March 12, 2020, in Olympia, Wash. State lawmakers passed a supplemental budget with funding for the state's response to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Rachel La Corte)
Aida Cruz, left, and Jose Chavez, take photos at the Space Needle, Friday, March 13, 2020, in Seattle. The two were visiting from San Antonio, Texas and had planned to take the elevator up the Needle for a view of the city, but they discovered that the iconic landmark and tourist attraction had closed Friday and will remain so through the end of March due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Washington state. The vast majority of people recover from the new coronavirus. According to the World Health Organization, most people recover in about two to six weeks, depending on the sever…
A sign informs visitors that Space Needle is closed, Friday, March 13, 2020, in Seattle. The iconic landmark and tourist attraction closed Friday and will remain so through the end of March due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Washington state. The vast majority of people recover from the new coronavirus. According to the World Health Organization, most people recover in about two to six weeks, depending on the severity of the illness. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee talks to the media about the decision to close schools in three counties in response to COVID-19, on Thursday, March 12, 2020, in Olympia, Wash. All public and private K-12 schools in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties will be closed for six weeks, and Inslee said there could be closures in more counties soon. (AP Photo/Rachel La Corte)
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal, right, talks to the media about the decision to close all schools in the state in response to COVID-19, as Gov. Jay Inslee looks on, Friday, March 13, 2020, in Olympia, Wash. Inslee issued an executive order expanding the closures from three counties to all 39, saying the virus is spreading rapidly across the state. (AP Photo/Rachel La Corte)
A U.S. Public Health Services worker carries boxes of supplies to a back entrance of the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., Monday, March 9, 2020, near Seattle. The nursing home is at the center of the outbreak of the new coronavirus in Washington state. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
SEATTLE (AP) — The death toll from the new coronavirus in Washington state jumped to 40 on Saturday when King County health officials reported three new fatalities — two from the nursing home that's been the epicenter of the outbreak.
Two men in their 80s who were residents of Life Care Center in Kirkland died at area hospitals, officials said. A woman in her 70s died at Swedish First Hill, they said. Ninety-five Life Care employees were symptomatic as of Friday night and 47 tested positive for COVID-19, while 24 were negative, King County health said.
Washington state reported Saturday that statewide, almost 650 people have tested positive in 16 counties across the state. As of Friday, Idaho has reported two confirmed cases and Oregon reported at least 30 cases.
Washington state health officials are fighting the new coronavirus on two fronts — containment, while trying to ensure hospitals can care for people who become sick, and to date, they have not received the equipment they need, officials said.
“We're still working on slowing the spread but also trying to plan on how to expand beyond the walls of our current health care system,” Dr. Kathy Lofy, state health officer, told The Associated Press.
The increase in people visiting clinics with respiratory symptoms is straining the states supply of personal protective gear worn by health care workers, officials said.
The federal government has sent Washington state tens of thousands of respirators, gowns, gloves and other protective gear for health care providers, but it's not enough, said Clark Halvorson, Assistant Secretary of Health for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response.
Gov. Jay Inslee has prohibited gatherings and events of more than 250 people across all of Washington in an effort to slow the spread of the disease. He also closed all K-12 private and public schools until April 24.
“We're doing this for the health of all Washingtonians," he said Friday.
Health officials look at the health system in terms of “space, staff and stuff,” Lofy said, meaning they have to count bed space, consider their staffing limitations and tally the ventilators and medication.
Officials continue to hold meetings to assess the number of intensive care unit beds available in state hospitals and whether they can add more, as well as other needs, she said.
State health officials have received two shipments of personal protective equipment from federal agencies: 595,940 N-95 respirators; 508,206 surgical masks; 63,688 face shields; 97,850 surgical gowns; and 240,376 gloves, according to the governor's office.
But it's not enough, they say.
“The Department of Health appreciates our federal partner’s efforts to meet our needs for PPE throughout this response through the Strategic National Stockpile,” Halvorson said. “This support however falls far short of meeting the needs of our medical system, first responders, public health, and care facilities — forcing us to prioritize requests based on greatest need."
Due to the demands on the protective equipment, Halvorson said the health department is partnering with the Emergency Management Division and Department of Enterprise Services to identify other sources for the equipment.
“This is a national problem as well,” he said. “It is critical that the federal government work with supplies to increase production of PPE to ensure our health care providers have the protection they need to safely provide care.”
Testing for the disease is also a concern.
More than 7,000 people have been tested for COVID-19 in Washington, but they need to do more, Lofy said.
“We're doing everything we can to increase testing capacity," she said.
While more test kits are becoming available for the labs, she said they're starting to run short on some of the materials to take the samples from people, including the swabs and the liquid the swabs go in.
Testing is available through four labs in Washington state and the turn-around time was 24 to 48 hours, officials said. The public health lab had the capacity to test 300 people per day. The University of Washington could handle 2,200 tests a day with a 24-hour turn-around.
Two private companies, LabCorp and Quest, were also conducting test. Quest could do about 1,250 per day while LabCorp could handle several hundred and were working to expand their capacity to thousands per day.