(Updated Aug. 11 at 9:25 a.m. with data errors corrected.)

Note:  Due to changes in posting schedules for the sources drawn from for this report, we will now be providing our detailed COVID numbers report each Monday on a weekly basis. We draw from a number of different sources to bring you a “one-stop shop” comprehensive snapshot of  progress in the battle with COVID-19 from the global to the local levels. 

The United States passed a grim milestone last Thursday, surpassing 5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, up from the 4 million mark only 17 days before. But according to health officials the numbers could be up to 10 times higher – 50 million – given testing difficulties and that as many as 40 percent of those infected show no symptoms.

The Aug. 10 count pegs worldwide confirmed cases at just shy of 20 million, while the Aug. 8 totals puts Washington state and Snohomish County at 63,072 and 5,465 respectively.

The world and national situation:

The global overview map and chart from Johns Hopkins continues to show the United States as the world hotspot in overall numbers of cases, ahead of Brazil and India.

While the U.S. leads the world in overall case numbers, it ranks ninth in per-capita cases (cases per one million population). Note all countries with a higher per-capita count have much lower total populations, with none exceeding 20 million compared to more than 330 million in the U.S. (See the complete interactive table here.)

Taken by region, the Americas account for the majority of cases worldwide, with Europe running a distant second according to this chart from the World Health Organization.

In worldwide COVID deaths per 100,000 population, the U.S. ranks fourth, trailing the UK, Peru and Chile.

The Washington state situation:

The most recent (Aug. 8) state overview shows confirmed cases at 63,072 and deaths at 1,688

The following chart from Johns Hopkins University shows a continuation of the encouraging drop in the new case rate that began last week. Note that these are associated with a return to higher-level restrictions (tan vertical lines), suggesting that increased attention to masking and social distancing is having a positive effect.

This drop in new cases is also reflected in a decreased case rate (cases per 100K population, two-week rolling average), although still far above the State Department of Health’s goal of 25.

COVID-related hospitalizations and deaths in Washington state show similar patterns, with both experiencing a slight upward trend (note that the grey bars in the hospitalization chart are incomplete data).

Testing activity in Washington state remains at a relatively high level, but has fallen off slightly over the past two weeks. The rate of positive test results continues to exceed the DOH goal of 2%.

The latest numbers show demographic patterns continuing unchanged, with most infections reported among younger people, and most hospitalizations and deaths in older age groups.

The Snohomish County situation:

The county numbers overview shows total confirmed cases approaching the 5,500 mark, and deaths about to hit 200.

As with Washington state (see above) the county daily new case count shows an encouraging decline over the past two weeks.

Viewed over time, the critical county measures (total cases, recovered cases, deaths and active cases) show a steady increase with the exception of deaths, which have remained relatively stable

Cumulative case counts for the county through Aug. 1 come from the weekly report from the Snohomish Health District, and do not include more recent and as yet unverified data.

Reflecting this trend, the case rate (cases per 100K population, two-week rolling average) is also showing a slight decline, although still significantly exceeding the DOH goal of 25.

Hospitalizations and deaths at the county level continue to hold fairly steady, with death rates heavily skewed to older demographics (see tables below).

Testing activity has ramped up in Snohomish County, with percent positives exceeding the state numbers, reaching 9% in the last week of July.

The Local Situation in our home cities as of Aug. 1: 

Note: These data are taken from the COVID-19 Weekly Update report from the Snohomish Health District, which summarizes verified data as of the end of the previous week, in this case Aug. 1.

Critical metrics (total cases, recovered cases, deaths, and active cases) for our home cities are shown in the chart below.  Note that death and active case figures are not available for Mountlake Terrace for 6/6, 6/13 and 6/20.

 

The Local Numbers summary:

Some more recent, but as yet unverified, current data are available on the Health District’s COVID Case Count page here.

The data, tables and charts in this report are taken from the following:

• The Snohomish Health District COVID Count webpage
• The Snohomish Health District weekly COVID report, Aug. 10 update
• The Washington State Department of Health COVID Dashboard
• The Washington State COVID Risk Assessment Dashboard
• The Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center 
• The World Health Organization Coronavirus Resource Center
• World-o-meters coronavirus update

— By Larry Vogel