The Wednesday, May 7 data from the  Snohomish Health District present a disturbing spike in both total active cases (red chart) and new cases added in the past day (yellow chart), rising by 50 and 57 respectively. Active COVID-19 cases in the county now stands at 1,003, the highest single-day count over the reporting period.

But again, these could be due to increased testing identifying more cases of people who have been infected for some time, and do not necessarily mean that COVID-19 is on a sharp upswing in our area.

At this time the Snohomish Health District is not providing numerical testing numbers on their daily COVID Case Count site, but we have requested access to these and will report them here as soon as they become available. In the meantime, according to the Washington DOH COVID-19 Information website, 230,680 Washingtonians have been tested to date (3.0 percent of the total population of 7.8 million), of which 93 percent (214,449) were negative and 7 percent (16,231) positive. As testing becomes more universal, the COVID tracking numbers will become more meaningful.

Recovered cases (green chart) continues to tick upward, adding five Snohomish County residents to the recovered list for a total of 1,771 over the full reporting period. The number of Snohomish County residents currently under hospital care for COVID-19 (purple chart) has not changed since yesterday, remaining at 55.

Two additional COVID-related deaths (gray chart) were reported in the past 24 hours. Over the full reporting period, 115 have died in Snohomish County as a result of the virus, bringing the countywide death rate from the virus to 3.98 percent.

— By Larry Vogel

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From the State of Washington

WiFi Hotspots connect Washington

Launching primarily as parking lot hotspots in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the free community Wi-Fi is accessible regardless of how users arrive at the locations. Some sites also offer indoor public access during business hours. Everyone using the sites – outside or inside – must practice social distancing and hygiene precautions, including staying in your vehicle or at least 6 feet from other users and wearing a mask if necessary. To date, 140 of the new drive-in hotspots are operational, in addition to 301 existing Washington State Library hotspots identified across the state. All told, some 600 public hotspots will soon be available to keep Washington communities connected.  For complete information and a map of locations, visit www.driveinwifi.wa.gov. The map will be updated as more sites come online